


The Tale of Ryder: Naruto Next Gen AU

by anjell0



Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, F/M, Gen, M/M, Ninja, naruto - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:55:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 42,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22829029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anjell0/pseuds/anjell0
Summary: Ryder Kawanabi, the new transfer to the Hidden Leaf Village, has a past shrouded in mystery. A mystery to others, and himself. In order to find out the truth behind his existence, he will live his life out in hopes that becoming stronger as a ninja with his new peers will help him find answers to his questions. Many new faces to the world of Naruto make up the cast, and many familiar faces join in as well. Can Ryder work with his allies to keep the peace in the ninja world with new looming threats on the rise? Or will he succumb to a dark path in order to uncover a shocking past that he was unaware he came from?





	1. The Hidden Cloud's Prodigy Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new era of the ninja world is dawning. A young hero makes his entrance into a foreign land filled with bright faces and harsh words.

Peace was the new norm. Thirty years had passed since the plans of the Akatsuki and Kaguya Otsutsuki had been halted by Naruto Uzumaki and the Shinobi Alliance. A vast amount of aspects of the ninja world had changed. Missions ranked B and higher almost never show up. The total peace between nations has erased the need for assassinations and intel gathering, but the occasional bandit or two could be expected. Ninja are still trained the way they were a couple of decades ago, but you can find the occasional slacker amongst the groups. A new program for Genin was also introduced: the Ninja Abroad Program. Young ninja with potential are selected after graduating from their ninja academies to relocate and study in other villages. They are then put into squads and carry out their lives in those villages. This was implemented by the Five Kage in an effort to help spread cultures amongst villages and give young ninja the chance to learn about their sister villages. These ninjas are chosen by liaisons who gauge the individuals’ natures and skills before selecting them. Aside from the many changes to the ninja world, most days were business as usual for everyone. Many of the young ninja from times past have since grown up, started families, and even have become active members in society. From Jounin to shopkeepers, almost all of the familiar faces we know of have moved on. This tale includes them, but our hero is a new soul. One that has traversed pain, suffering, and turmoil. A hero who would overcome the countless obstacles in his path to learn the truth of his family and own existence. This is the legend of Ryder Kawanabi.  
\-----------------———---  
“Hey Sensei! Can we go yet? What else are you gonna teach us in 2 minutes? Just let us go home already why don’t ya?” a young girl said. The Hidden Leaf Village’s elementary class 6 consisted of 11 academy level ninja. Although to call them ninja at this point is a bit of an overstatement.  
“Not yet. I have a couple of announcements before I release you all. As you all know your graduation exams will take place one week from now, so be sure to practice your hearts out if you wish to pass. If you pass, you will graduate from the academy to genin and on induction day you will be sorted into your squads. Fail, of course, and you’ll be here with me for another 3 months,” the man said with a sly smirk. The teacher for the academy children was none other than Shino Aburame. Tall and fair skinned, Shino presided of the early tutelage of ninja. His pass-fail rate was exceptional with an average ratio of seven to one. He was very thorough.  
“Yea, yea we know all that of course. The only person we have to worry about failing is Kokichi here. You might be good, but this guy is going to be the one to ruin your record,” a snide boy said. His name is Oma Nijimura. Oma was a young man of short stature. He had frazzled black hair and vibrant purple eyes. He wore a black jacket with a white, turtleneck shirt underneath and black pants. His cocky attitude was charming for all the wrong reasons. On top of his overconfidence, he had a very mischievous personality that often got him yelled at or scolded by his peers, even.  
“Oh! Well...I-I don’t think I’ll fail. Maybe I won’t be the best, but I think I can at least pass,” Kokichi hesitantly replied. Kokichi Nijimura was the older brother of Oma, but only by order of birth. Kokichi and Oma were twins both originating from the Hidden Grass Village. Kokichi had black hair like his brother’s pulled into a low bun. He wore a long sleeved white shirt and light grey pants. His was a timid young man who did not have the courage to stand up to his younger brother let alone those who would slightly oppose his ideals.  
“I have high hopes for Kokichi. I believe he will do better than you Oma. How about that?” Shino interrupted.  
“Tsk, yea right,” Oma scoffed at the thought.  
“Anyways, my final announcement regards our transfer student,” Shino was cut off by a collective outburst from the class.  
“Transfer?” a girl said above everyone else. “How can we get a transfer student when our exams are a week away?”  
“It’s fine Kansai. He already graduated from the Hidden Cloud Village’s academy. He had the highest score of his peers,” Shino said.  
“Woah, so he’s a genius, huh?” Kansai questioned. Kansai was a slender girl with medium length red hair braided into pig-tails. She had pale blue eyes and a slim face. She wore a red vest that extended enough to double as a skirt with white tights underneath. She was a rather intelligent girl and tended to interject as politely as possible. “I guess someone is going to give you a run for your money, eh, Kiata?” she poked.  
“Doubtful,” Kiata said with resolve. Kiata Hyuga had long black hair that she kept tied up into a top knot. She had the pale eyes of a Hyuga. She wore a lavender colored tank top with dark purple tights. She had a very high and mighty attitude and could not be bothered with those lacking in intelligence. She rarely spoke to her peers, but was quick to correct them when they made an incorrect statement. “My studies have taken me places no mere ninja our age could ever dream to go. I may not be able to use different styles and releases, but I have studied them enough to be one of the brightest ninja of our generation. It would take a miracle for one to be more knowledgeable than I.”  
“I don’t know about a miracle, but our new classmate is definitely very bright. Once you’re all dismissed, your homework will be to meet him outside the Hokage mansion and introduce yourselves. I think he would enjoy that very much. I suppose with that you are all free to go,” he concluded. In almost no time, the classroom emptied. “I apologize kiddo.”  
\----------------  
“Well kid, this has been a few years in the making, but you’re finally here,” the tall, blonde man said. “After 5 years of training, you managed to pass your exams and qualify for the NAP. Not that you would have been denied due to Operation House Party, but the fact that you managed on your own strength speaks volumes. Wherever they are, I’m sure your family is proud.”  
“Thank you Lord Hokage,” the small boy returned formally.  
“Please, I may be the Hokage but given your status we are like equals. From now on, just call me Naruto.”  
“Oh. Uh, thank you Lord Naruto,” the boy said shyly.  
“We’ll work on that I guess,” Naruto laughed. “Anyways, given your final test scores, you’ll be transferred into Class 3B, but since you already passed said final test, attending class until graduation will just be a formality. You can use it as time to get to know your teammates and prepare yourself for when squads are chosen. Aburame-sensei will be your teacher for the next week, but upon graduation you will be assigned with your selected squad to a jounin squad leader, yada yada yada. You’re a smart boy; I’m sure you’ve got the gist of it all,” Naruto quickly rushed.  
“Ahem, Lord Naruto, maybe you shouldn’t so brazenly brush past his orientation?” the tall, shaggy man asked.  
“Come on, Kiba. He only outclassed his entire class in the Cloud Village. I’m sure he already knows everything that's going to happen once graduation happens,” Naruto pleaded.  
“Lord Naruto…” Kiba urged.  
“Fine,” Naruto conceded. “You’ll be assigned to a jounin who will lead your squad. You guys will carry out missions as a squadron and at any point that your squad are all promoted to Chunin, you will begin carrying out missions as individual squad leaders, and so on and so forth, but you will still primarily work as a 4 man cell. Now, I have the paperwork that you already filled out before hand and it will be given to Aburame-sensei so that he can review it to best decide your placement. However, he may also take into consideration how you fare with your classmates, so it is very important that you attend class for the next week. Any questions, Ryder?” Naruto finished.  
“Not at all Lord Naruto! I’m excited to start!” Ryder exclaimed. Ryder Kawanabi was a slender young man with a fairer brown skin tone. His hair was buzzed into a low mohawk which was a sandy brown color. He had dark brown eyes and a tight face. He wore the pale orange robes that the students of the Hidden Cloud wore in their academy days with the Hidden Cloud crest on the back. He was a laid back boy and tended to be very relaxed. He kept his cool situations others would find stressful. Outside of serious scenarios, however, he was a fun and light-hearted kid who always brightened up the days of others. He was truly a beacon for hope. He kept his posture upright and maintained a slight smile. “I think my classmates are also excited for me to start.”  
“So you noticed too, huh? As expected from you,” Naruto said. Shortly after this exchange, the room filled with young ninja shouting several different lines at different volumes and from all different directions. The entire class had quickly swarmed Ryder and began bombarding him with a cacophony of questions. “Alright, you guys. That’s enough! Take it outside. Will you be okay?” Naruto asked the young man.  
“If not, then I don’t deserve to be here,” Ryder said with a smile.  
Ryder was taken out of the office by his classmates in haste. Naruto and Kiba remained, the latter far more worried than the former. “Hey, Naruto. Do you really think it’s ok to just let him go off like that? I mean he is…” Kiba was cut off.  
“Save it, Kiba,” Naruto said. “Regardless of his situation, he’s still just a kid. I want him to be able to enjoy his life as a young man in these peaceful times. Operation House Party will be a success so long as no one intervenes or is knowledgeable about the specifics of it. We need him here, but I don’t want him to feel as if he’s being kept under surveillance. He knows what he’s going through and that’s all that matters. He’ll be safe here. We’ve just got two more to bring in before our plan can be put into motion. We’ve come so far, I won’t let us fail now. I just wish she wasn’t gone,” he said solemnly, staring at an old picture on his desk of him and his allies as children.  
\-------------------------  
“So your name is Ryder, huh?” Oma inquired, no more or less than a pencil’s length from Ryder’s face. “That’s a pretty cool name for someone so normal.”  
“Would you get out of his face?” Kansai scolded Oma while grabbing his ear and pulling him away from Ryder.  
“Cut it out, Oma. How could you say something like that to the new guy?” one girl scolded.  
“No it’s okay,” Ryder assured her. “Voicing one’s opinion is important, no matter how brazen.”  
“If you say so. Well anyways, that’s Oma. Don’t mind him, he got all the personality when he was born. His brother Kokichi there however, not so much. Im Denka and this little gal here is Aomaru,” Denka Inuzuka was a rather country girl. Her dark brown hair was parted into two, shoulder-length braids on either side of her head. She wore a blue and black flannel shirt with short sleeves and cut off denim shorts that very obviously used to be full length pants. Denka did not wear shoes and she swore she never would. Her blue eyes were almost muddied by her rugged appearance, but it’s evident that when she cleans up, she cleans up well. She had a rugged personality and was very informal, but she was very nice and a great friend to have. Aomaru was a small chow chow with a slate grey coat. She had enough fur to cover all of her facial features. She appeared to be an elongated ball of bluish-grey fur. Aomaru was a very low energy dog. She tended to be lazy during practices and drills.  
“Little furball can’t get enough of me,” said a short boy, petting Aomaru.  
“Quit it Ryoma! If she gets too used to you, we won’t be able to coordinate well!” Denka snapped.  
Ryoma Nekutama was a very short boy. Even though everyone was in their early teen years, he was very obviously much smaller in stature. He wore a black beanie with cat ears and a black t-shirt with his clan symbol on the front. His outfit was complete with black shorts with long purple socks and black shoes. Roma kept a cattail stem in his mouth as if it were a strand of wheat. He kept a cool composure on a regular basis, but when interacting with animals he acted as a total child.  
“Hey, new guy’s kinda cute, huh?” a stocky girl said. She laughed, “Better keep him away from Inoi!” She said.  
“Shut up Chouja! That’s not funny!” Inoi raised his voice. Inoi Yamanaka was a slender and slightly tall boy. He had long blonde hair that he had tied up into a high ponytail. He had pale blue eyes. He wore black overalls that stopped at his knees and a short-sleeved red shirt with red shoes. He also had a small pin attached to one of his overall straps of his clan symbol. Inoi kept to himself on occasion, but was not averse to having group conversations and making his opinion heard.  
“Oh yea!” Oma chuckled. “Chouja’s right! Inoi does like boys!” he teased. “Inoi likes boys! Inoi likes boys!” Oma chanted sing-songily.  
“Stop it Oma! They’re kidding. You don’t have to be worried about me. I’m actually really nice. Chouja, stop being mean!” Inoi demanded.  
Chouja Akimichi was a stocky girl with dark skin and shoulder length, frizzy, red hair. She had a very puffy face with little red swirls on both cheeks. “War paint” she called it. She wore a purple vest with a large tool belt and ankle length black tights. She had a very cheery personality and was extremely loud when around her friends. She ate quite often and did not care what others thought of her habit.  
“You guys are funny! Much more laid back than my classmates back home,” Ryder said.  
“Back home? You’re not from here?” Denka questioned.  
“Obviously not, Denka,” Kiata chimed in. “Look at him. He’s obviously from the Hidden Cloud Village.”  
“Is that supposed to be stereotyping? Are you being racist?” Ryder questioned her in a joking manner.  
“What? No...I...how could you think...that’s not what I-” she stammered.  
“It’s ok,” Ryder cut her off, laughing. “I was only joking. Yes, I am from the Hidden Cloud Village. I was transferred through the NAP. I am actually supposed to meet with my liason here soon to begin receiving my orientation.” Ryder told them.  
As if he was summoned, a tall man approached the group. “Are you kids up to no good?” he asked the group.  
“Not at all sensei!” they collectively said.  
“Good. What’s all the commotion then?” he replied.  
“Sasuke-sensei, we have a new classmate!” Denka exclaimed.  
“Oh! Ryder Kawanabi, correct? So this is where you were hauled off to. I went to the Hokage’s Mansion to retrieve you and when he told me you were whisked away by your new classmates I knew I was gonna have a hard time finding you,” Sasuke stated.  
“Yes sir. I’ve been here the whole time,” Ryder explained with a smile.  
“Something’s not right here. Where is Drake? Now that I’m seeing your group, aren’t Shikana and Bei Ten also missing?” Sasuke interrogated.  
“They haven’t been with us all day. They said this morning that they had more important business to attend to,” Oma told Sasuke.  
“Geez, Oma. I knew you were obnoxious, but I didn’t know you were a snitch,” Ryoma said sharply.  
“What am I supposed to do? Lie? He can tell when we’re lying anyways, so might as well be honest,” he replied slyly.  
“Honesty is good, Oma, but ratting out your allies is low. Thank you for that info anyways,” Sasuke said almost annoyed.  
“Who are those three?” Ryder asked Kansai.  
“Oh those three? Drake Uchiha is Sasuke-sensei’s son. He’s one of our classmates. Shikana Nara and Bei Ten are also two of our classmates. Those three get along like a little gang. Always skipping class to practice their fighting and testing to see who is stronger. They are front runners in our class for combat skill and everyone is almost certain they are going to be put in a team together under Shikamaru-sensei, Shikana’s dad,” Kansai explained to him.  
“Oh, is Shikamaru-sensei a prestigious teacher around here?” Ryder asked confusedly.  
“You don’t know about the Legendary Ino-Shika-Cho trio? They were appointed as the new Sannin of the Hidden Leaf. They are also the parents of Inoi, Chouja, and Shikana. Ino spends her time in the medical field as a midwife, but she never really is here in the Hidden Leaf since we have many medical kunoichi here for that. Choji is a liason for the NAP in the Hidden Sand Village, but spends a lot of his time in the Hidden Cloud Village with his wife. Shikamaru is the only one who thought having a real job was boring, so he became a leaf jounin and will act as a squad leader starting this year. Rumor has it, a team from our class is going to be put under him and if they pass his graduation exam, they’ll be his subordinates,” she explained almost excitedly.  
“Yea, and if Shikana, Drake, and Bei Ten get put on a team together, they’ll definitely get put under Shikamaru,” Denka added.  
“Who are these three? I want to see just how strong they are,” Ryder stated boldly.  
Everyone stopped their conversations and looked at Ryder as if he had made a declaration of war on the Ninja Alliance.  
“I have to laugh,” Kiata said arrogantly. “Those three will eat you alive on a battlefield. None of us have ever come close to defeating those three in battle in one-on-one’s let alone as a squad. What makes you think you could stand a chance?” she asked Ryder in a slightly irritated voice.  
“Why don’t we find them and I’ll show you?” he declared in a confident tone.  
\----------------------------  
“You guys are getting strong. You’ve managed to tire me out,” a very sweaty girl said through bated breaths.  
“I could say the same for you Shiki. That shadow punch is getting strong. I’m almost scared to get hit by it,” said the long haired boy.  
“Amateurs!” said the third boy, unfazed. “I can’t believe you two have let me tire you out this easily. Graduation is next week and if you can’t keep up with me, you’ll be left behind in the academy,” he said cockily.  
“Oh stop acting tough Drake. I’d unpuff my chest if I were you. If you pass out from holding your breath like that, you might pass out,” the girl said back to him.  
The boy let out an exaggerated breath. “Damn you,” he said, now panting for dear life. “How could you tell?”  
“We’ve been sparring for the last 5 hours and the last year now. You can’t hide your fatigue from us,” the other boy said.  
“Whatever. Both of you straighten your backs up. We’re gonna figure out just who is the strongest right now,” the short haired boy demanded.  
“Sounds good to me,” the girl declared. The three rose back to their feet and regained their composure. They all began forming hand signs. Black orbs began forming around the girl’s fists. The long haired boy’s hands began to glimmer white. The boy with short hair’s right hand began to emit green electricity.  
“You ready?” the short haired boy asked.  
“Are you?” the other two said in unison.  
The three of them leapt towards each other quickly. Arms extended in attack, they came at each other with the intent to kill.  
“Shadow club!” the girl shouted.  
“Phanta Kurova!” the long haired boy yelled.  
“Chidori!” the boy with short hair screamed.  
Suddenly, they were all thrown off guard by a presence from above followed by a fourth voice. “Rasengan!” the boy shouted.  
“Huh?” the three exclaimed together.  
A powerful spiral of chakra came crashing into the meeting of hands like the four points on a triangular pyramid. A violent clash of energy exploded from the meeting and the three were sent flying backwards into the ground. The intruder landed effortlessly on the ground beneath his point of entry.  
“Hey, what the hell? Who are you?” the short haired boy shouted through labored coughs.  
“My name is Ryder Kawanabi and I am here to defeat you all,” Ryder declared.  
The three looked at each other and began to burst into laughter before snapping back to being angry at the intrusion. “Listen punk, I don’t know who you think you are, but if you’re picking a fight we’d be glad to give you what you wish for.”  
“Loud, cocky, bossy: you must be Drake,” Ryder said. “Which means...you’re a girl, so you’re Shikana, and process of elimination means you must be Bei Ten,” he continued.  
“How do you know who we are?” Bei Ten questioned him. Bei Ten was a slim but slightly muscular boy. He had long brown hair that was tied off about halfway down. He wore a loose beige gi with a thick black belt around his waist. He never wore shoes. Bei Ten was a very handsome young man with a stern face and confident attitude about him. He seldom joked around and was seen as a stick in the mud, but he was very intelligent and very strong.  
“Yea, if you were from around here we’d know you,” Shikana added on. Shikana was a slim girl with short black hair pulled up into a spiky bun. She had a mousy face and a sharp witted attitude. She wore a black leather jacket with a dark green shirt underneath and black jeans. She wore black fishnets underneath her clothing and had a small black tattoo of her clan symbol on her right shoulder. She was very laid back in demeanor, but took sparring very seriously and was even excited to do so.  
“Who cares who this punk is? Let’s just kick his ass and get back to what we were doing!” Drake ordered. Drake usually had an angry look on his face, as if he had several chips on his shoulder. He had a short black buzz cut hairdo. He wore a red vest with no shirt underneath and white shorts. His reputation preceded him as an angry and bossy boy, but he really just liked to know that things would go off effortlessly.  
“I would not advise that,” Ryder stated. “If the three of you get back up and attempt to attack me, you will wind up back where you currently are, albeit in a much worse state. Please, concede to me as the victor now,” Ryder warned.  
Drake laughed hysterically. “You’re dead!” he shouted. He got up and flew at Ryder in one swift motion. He stopped in front of Ryder and vanished. He reappeared behind him in the blink of an eye. He swung his leg around quickly and performed a roundhouse kick to the back of Ryder’s head. Ryder sank to the ground much faster. Holding himself from the ground with his hands, he readied his leg.  
“Drake look out!” Shikana shouted.  
“Huh?” Drake said confused. Everything was now happening at a speed that outclassed his own. Ryder extended his leg and kicked Drake in the chin, launching him upwards. Ryder followed through. A flurry of punches and kicks kept sending Drake upwards, defenseless. Ryder scooted a few inches closer, directly beneath Drake. A swift punch struck Drake in the stomach and sent him up higher. Ryder jumped. An axe kick to the back of Drake’s head sent him plummeting back down. As if lightning, Ryder rushed back to the ground and prepared to follow through. Chakra and wind began swarming in his right hand. When it reached the size of a soft ball, he extended his arm at Drake’s exposed back and yelled, “Rasengan!” It connected. Drake spun around as he cried out in pain and was launched forward until he began skidding on the ground out past where he initially lied. “Darn. I was a few feet off,” Ryder said to himself disappointedly while scratching his head.  
“Why you!” Shikana yelled. Suddenly, Shikana and Bei Ten were behind and above Ryder. “Shadow club!” she shouted, her hands surrounded with black orbs prepared to strike downwards.  
“Phanta Demo!” Bei Ten yelled. His right foot glowing white preparing to come down with a heavy axe kick.  
“Hm?” Ryder noticed the two attacking. Ryder cartwheeled between the two and backflipped back over them. The expression on the two’s face changed to shock and fear. He pointed his fingers at them like guns. “Bang. Bang,” he said softly. Suddenly, two violent torrents of wind came rushing down his arms and into the two’s bodies, launching them back to where they, too, had arisen from. Near mangled from the vicious wind, they lie motionless. “So if I had pulled back a little on Drake I could have fulfilled my boast. I’ll go easy on myself, I think forty laps around the village is sufficient,” Ryder said to himself.  
“You...who are you?” Shikana said weakly, near passing out.  
“Me? I’m the new strongest in your class, Ryder Kawanabi,” he said confidently. Shikana could not hold out any longer and fainted.  
“That was absolutely marvelous work Ryder! I knew we selected you for a reason! Naruto-dono will be glad to hear of your victory,” Sasuke said emerging from the trees with the rest of the kids.  
“Oh no, I didn’t over do it did I? Am i going to be in trouble?” Ryder asked worriedly.  
“Of course not, I’m sure he’ll be glad to know you took down the star pupils of Shino-sensei. Maybe next time though don’t beat up your classmates so intensely. That combination attack might put Drake in the infirmary for the day. Although, it was his fault for not seeing it coming. Truly a shame,” Sasuke said disappointedly.  
“Wow, I can’t believe he did it,” Inoi said, picking up Shikana’s arms and letting it go, watching it flop lifelessly back to the ground.  
“Bei Ten!” Kiata shouted. “Oh no, how could this have happened? You’re so strong, there’s no way you were beaten especially with those two,” Kiata was in tears.  
Oma cackled, “Look at her all flustered! It’s no secret that’s her little baby boy,” he teased.  
“Quiet you!” Kiata snapped.  
“God damn you,” a voice struggled. “Where the hell do you get off showing up and acting like this?” Drake began rising up slowly.  
“Hey, come on. You’re battered kid. Lie back down and I’ll get you to the infirmary,” Sasuke attempted but was cut off.  
“Shut up, Dad!” Drake yelled. “I don’t know who you are Ryder, but once I get fixed up, I’m gonna kick your ass all the way back to wherever you came from,” he declared with conviction.  
“I’ll be waiting,” Ryder replied.  
“Enough you,” Sasuke said to Drake. A swift strike to the back of the neck knocked Drake out immediately. Sasuke caught him and draped him over his shoulder. A single hand sign later and Shikana and Bei Ten were being lifted up, seemingly by nothing. “Limbo,” Sasuke uttered.  
“Woah!” everyone exclaimed.  
“Alright you kids, all of you get back to town and start on your homework for today, and don’t try to tell me you don’t have any because Shino already sent me Drake’s. You have graduation coming up in a few days so you had all better pass. Ryder, you come with me. Once we drop these three off at the hospital, we can actually get our work done together,” Sasuke ordered.  
“Yes sir,” the kids said dejectedly, but obediently.  
“Come on, Ryder. Walk with me. I’ll tell you about some stuff along the way,” Sasuke instructed.  
“Yes sir!” Ryder agreed.  
\-------------------------------  
“So Sensei,” Ryder began, “these clones you have carrying these two. Why was everyone so surprised to see them?”  
“Oh, so you can see my Limbo? Naruto really knows how to pick them. Well, kid, this Limbo is an ability that my eyes allow me to use. They’re not so different from clones, but people who aren’t special can’t see them,” Sasuke explained.  
“You mean people without Rinnegan or Sage energy?”  
“Exactly, wow you’re a smart kid!” Sasuke was surprised at Ryder’s intelligence. “But yes, similar to clones, they can only be seen by one with a Rinnegan or who harbors a large amount of Sage energy. Obviously, you don’t have my eyes, so he must be giving you a scary amount of Sage chakra.”  
“Oh, please don’t mention him. I don’t want everyone to treat me differently,” Ryder asked quietly.  
“My apologies.”  
“But no, sensei. I have Sage energy from my time training with the monks of Mount Myouboku. Naruto-dono took me there to train for a few years when I was younger and I learned to harness and control it. I guess I learned a little too well and now I can sense things I shouldn’t,” Ryder chuckled.  
“I see. That man has no clue when he should and shouldn’t stick his nose into others' business, but I guess we agreed to make him the leader of the alliance for a reason so I won’t go against his reasoning. Are you better for it?” Sasuke asked.  
“Pardon?”  
“The experience of Mount Myouboku. Do you feel like it made you stronger?”  
“Of course! I’m much faster, significantly stronger, and apparently I can sense your Limbo,” ryder joked.  
“Yes, I suppose that is true. No, I have no doubt that you learned much up there. Watching you fight just now was the most exhilarated I’ve felt watching youth today spar. You bring a sense of skill and urgency to battle. A sense that could only be drawn out by the absolute need to win. One that has since been erased from this world.”  
“Um, sensei. Is that a bad thing?” Ryder asked confusedly.  
“Of course not. It’s nice living in a time of peace. I just sometimes worry if something were to happen and the strong ones were unable to defend the villages, would the youth be strong enough to take our place?” Sasuke pondered aloud.  
“I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Ryder reassured him.  
“Oh?”  
“I mean, I won against these three easily not because of who I am, but because i was prepared to fight them. They weren't ready to fight me. I know that in a serious fight you may not be able to get ready, but more often than not, you’ll go into battle ready. I think if I faced those three in their prime, I might actually break a sweat,” Ryder said confidently.  
“You’ve got a pretty good head on your shoulders, kid. I think these guys will be alright with you around to invigorate them. Now about your orientation, as you know you won’t be attending classes this week unless you choose to. It’s recommended so you can stay out of trouble, but it won’t be forced upon you since you have already graduated. If you choose not to, you can spend the next few days touring the village, seeing some of the outskirts, buying things and settling into your home, whatever you want to do while you’re getting accustomed to the village and waiting for your classmates to graduate and be sorted into teams. Your uncle and Raikage Darui have put together some funds for you to live on while you wait to be put on a team and sent on missions to earn your own income, but of course upon request you can ask them to send you an allowance to cover any expenses that you need covered due to a potential lack of work. If you request an allowance, we will have Naruto submit to Darui a copy of your work queue from the month and if Darui sees necessary, he will send Naruto an allowance that you can pick up from his office. However, between you and me, Ay-dono seems to wrapped around your finger, so if you just asked him for some money I’m almost positive he would get it to you in a heartbeat,” Sasuke added with a small laugh.  
“Uncle Ay. I love that crazy old man.”  
“He is quite the man. I remember my fights with him when I was only a few years older than you. He won of course, but back then I wouldn’t admit it,” Sasuke laughed. “Anyways, moving on. Graduation happens in 5 days. You will have to attend graduation so that you can be put into a team with two of your peers. From there you will be given instructions on when and where to meet your squad leader and they will be the one who gives you your instruction from that point on. So I suppose, until the day you meet your squad leader, if you have any questions or concerns you can report to me directly if you so wish, but all of the jounin in the village will be happy to help you. When we get back to my office I will have your living funds, the key to your home, and the pin you will need to wear so that the villagers know you’re not supposed to be in school. I’ll also have you fill out some paperwork that will allow you to carry ninja tools and accept missions. Once we get to my office and you leave from there, you’re basically a free man. Sorry your first day was so chaotic though,” he apologized.  
“Not at all! That fight was a great warm up, and I had a great time meeting my teammates as well. I think I’m going to like it here. Like I told them, they are a much livelier bunch than my old classmates,” he said with a downcast tone.  
“The Hidden Leaf is known for that. Our own Hokage was the same way as a kid you know?” Sasuke prodded.  
“I had no idea. I bet Lord Naruto was a very fun person to be around as a child,”  
“Let’s not get carried away with the word fun, but he was definitely interesting,” Sasuke tacked on. “Alright well this is the hospital. If ever you feel bad enough that a doctor’s office can’t help, you can come here. I’ll get these three checked in and I’ll be back for so we can head to the Hokage’s mansion. Don’t...leave that spot. I do not wish to hunt you down again,” Sasuke commanded.  
“Yes, sensei,” Ryder said obediently. Ryder sat for a moment observing the people and things surrounding him. He was excited to start living in a new place and to see what kind of interactions it would bring for him. Suddenly, a woman approached him. She was tall and had brown hair put up into two buns on the back of her head. She wore a white top that was tucked into her red pants that were waist high. She had red jewels hanging from her ears and had a very kind smile.  
“Hello! You’re not from here are you. You must be the NAP transfer, Ryder, correct?” she asked.  
“Yes ma’am. Ryder Kawanabi. I apologize, but you have me at a disadvantage,” he returned politely.  
“I’m Tenten. I am one of the squad leaders that your class will begin training under soon. I work at my shop across the way and couldn’t help but to see you arrive here with Sasuke-kun. Was that his son on his shoulder?” she inquired.  
“Yes. I would say we got into a fight or scuffle, but it was more of me demonstrating my skill to a loose cannon,” he answered promptly.  
She chuckled at the response. “You’re pretty quick witted. You just might survive in that crazy class of yours.”  
“I’m pleased to hear that,” he said, “and I am pleased to meet you Tenten-sensei.”  
“Oh, you’re too polite! I’ll be praying for you to join my squad. I don’t know what I’d do if I got that rude little-” she was cut off.  
“Ryder! How’s it going buddy?” the short boy shouted. “Oh! Didn’t see you there Tenten-baachan! So, Ryder how’s it going?”  
“Oma…” Tenten finished.  
Ryder chuckled, “Hello Oma! Have you come to test my skills too?”  
“Don’t joke about that! I could never go up against you. My face is too pretty to let you mess up. Maybe if you want to sit down for a nice dinner and I attack you from behind when you least expect it, then we can talk,” Oma said grinning.  
“Come now, Oma. You know that wouldn’t work,” Ryder said through a small laugh.  
“Yea, I guess you’re right.”  
“Oma, don’t you have homework you should be doing?” Tenten said annoyed.  
“Actually, Tenten-baachan, I’m here because Lord Naruto requested you. Something about a date?”  
“Oh! Hush now! Well I truly must be going,” Tenten said flustered. “Ryder, I hope to see you at the graduation ceremony next week. Oma.” she said with disdain. Tenten made her leave towards the Hokage Mansion with a sort of excited stride.  
“Alright boys. Come out,” Oma commanded. All of a sudden, Ryoma, Inoi, and Chouja jumped from behind trash cans and boxes. “Ryder, you’re coming with us,” Oma demanded.  
“Alright,” Ryder said.  
“Wait what?” Ryoma asked. It appears they did not expect to have their “invitation” so easily accepted. “No questions? Just...alright?”  
“Sure,” Ryder said, “I’m well aware that the three of you wish to get into mischief and I guarantee we’ll be caught once Sasuke-sensei comes looking for me after telling me to stay here, but I won’t be able to bond with you guys if I obey all the rules, no?” Ryder went on.  
“Uh, I mean yea, but we figured you would’ve given us a little trouble,” Chouja added.  
“Should I turn you guys down now then?” Ryder questioned.  
“You idiots,” Oma shouted, “Come on, Ry. We’ve got a grade-A prank we’re gonna pull.”  
“Let’s do it,” Ryder agreed.  
\----------------------------------  
“Alright, Ryder. Sorry I took so long. Let’s get go-,” Sasuke stopped when he saw it. “So troublesome those kids are. I pray Ryder learns from this and doesn’t let them talk him into such mischief again,” Sasuke said discouragingly. Mount Hokage, the rock wall with the 7 Hokage of history had been defaced with paints, foodstuffs, and women’s underwear. “Alright then, they asked for this,” with a single hand sign Sasuke muttered, “Limbo.”  
\-----------------------------------  
“Oh my god! You’re a riot, Ryder!” Oma laughed very hard. “You’re so much more fun than Ryoma!”  
“He has a long way to go before he can be placed above me on the fun scale,” Ryoma retaliated.  
“Ryder, um, that was pretty fun. Do you think it’ll be okay though? I have a bad feeling about this,” Inoi worried.  
“You’re letting it get to your head, Inoi!” Chouja exclaimed. “We’re gonna be alright.”  
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Ryder said cheerily.  
“Hm?” the four muttered.  
“I informed you before our departure that Sasuke-sensei was going to find us shortly after. If I were you guys, I would scatter and I wouldn’t stop for a while,” Ryder warned. Suddenly, Ryder turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished.  
“Seriously?! A shadow clone?!” Ryoma yelled standing up quickly. Suddenly the four of them were being lifted into the air.  
“Hey what gives?” Chouja shouted.  
“That rat! He ratted us out!” Oma said angrily.  
“Not quite,” Inoi added. “His clone assisted in our antics so he is equally at fault for everything. He wouldn’t have ratted on himself. He was aware that Sasuke would locate us so he made sure he was actually where he was supposed to be while also having fun with us. He’s so smart,” Inoi said with hearts in his eyes.  
“Whatever,” Oma said with annoyance. “Sorry Sasuke-sensei, but Ryder’s not the only one who was prepared for this.”  
“Release!” all four of the kids shouted together. Suddenly all four of the kids vanished leaving behind clouds of smoke. They had all prepared clones in a worst case scenario.  
“Those kids,” Sasuke thought. “I don’t need to worry about them being able to hold their own, that's for sure. Release.”  
\------------------------------  
Ryder sat on a small bench outside the office door that read ‘Uchiha Sasuke - NAP Liaison’. He had been waiting a few minutes for his mentor to arrive. Suddenly, Sasuke was turning the corner and walking towards Ryder. He paused and sighed, then continued onwards.  
“Ryder…” Sasuke said disappointed.  
“You don’t have to say anything sensei. I know we’ll be facing trouble,” Ryder said assuredly.  
“If you knew you were going to get in trouble, then why do it?”  
“Well, the consequences might be rough. I mean, defacing public property, theft of several women’s undergarments, entering uninvited, and who knows what else. I’m ready to face my punishment, but given my peers, I won’t be able to bond with them if I don’t find a way to have fun their way.”  
Sasuke sighed deeply. “Well, as long as you know what you’ll be in trouble for I can’t be too pressed. Just try to find other ways to bond with your new classmates, okay? It’s bad enough that we’ll have to get that mess cleaned, but I also had to come find you.”  
“I understand sensei. I apologize.”  
“Alright, let’s head in so we can get your paperwork taken care of.”  
Upon entering the office, Ryder noticed a family picture of Sasuke when he was about thirteen years younger with a baby, a woman, and a teenage boy roughly in his mid-teens. “Sensei, who are these people?” Ryder inquired.  
“Oh, that’s my wife and my two sons. The baby is Drake, and my other son Umagi. He died on a mission about ten years ago. He was a bright kid. Reminded me a lot of my older brother,” Sasuke answered.  
“If I may?” Ryder asked, subtly wondering how his misfortune came about.  
“Of course. It was an illness,” Sasuke explained. “During his mission, he tried to save his allies. He was successful, but was poisoned in the process. The poison could have been easily removed, but like my older brother, Umagi liked to over use his eyes. It eventually caused a lot of issues in his body. The poison ended up affecting him much faster because of it. He died shortly after completing his mission.”  
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”  
“It’s ok. He died serving his village.”  
“Well sure, but that doesn’t mean it’s not sad,” Ryder argued.  
“Alright, enough about Umagi. This is your rental agreement. It outlines your agreement to keep your living space as a whole and damage-free. You can read through it if you want, but it just tells us that you agree to not do anything that would negatively affect the property or those living near it. You’ll sign at the bottom there. After that, these are your license and agreement to carry weapons. Obviously during the transfer your ninja tools were confiscated, but they will arrive for you to pick up within the week after you agree to this. Let’s see. Oh. Wage agreement. You agree to the tax on your mission payments and other than that you can use your money on whatever you so desire. Any allowances or gifts received are tax free of course, and once all of that is taken care of and signed off on here is your NAP Graduate badge and your certificate of graduation. Also, Raikage Darui has sent 10,000 yen for you for living funds and Ay-dono added 5,000 yen to it as well, totaling 15,000 yen and as explained in the wage agreement that is not taxed so you will receive the full amount. Try...to not spend it all at once. It’s supposed to last you until you get sorted into a team. Other than that I don’t have anything else for you. Any questions?”  
“No sensei,” Ryder said, focused on his paperwork. “I’ll head straight home after this.” Ryder wrapped up and shuffled his papers into a neat stack and handed them to Sasuke. He received his badge, money, and certificate and tucked them into his empty ninja tool pouch. By this point it was dusk and he would have a tough time finding his way home if it got too dark, so after saying his goodbyes, he headed out quickly while there was still minimal sunlight. Shortly after leaving the office and running down the road, his path was blocked.  
“Going somewhere?”  
It was Drake. Bei Ten and Shikana were nowhere in sight. Drake, who had just been severely beaten only a few hours ago, stood tall and sturdy. He had made a complete recovery in no time at all.  
“Drake, I don’t have time to fight with you. I told your dad I would head straight home. If I waste time dealing with you, it will get too dark and I won’t be able to find my way home,” Ryder said sternly.  
“I’m not here to fight,” Drake said. This shocked Ryder. Despite what Drake said earlier, he sincerely seemed to mean no harm. “I’m sure you can tell, but I’m more than energized for a rematch. However, if I wanted to fight right now, not a single word would have been exchanged.”  
“Then what do you want?”  
“Walk with me. I’ll take you home.”  
\-----------------------------  
After about an hour of walking in total silence, the two arrived at a well constructed and well maintained apartment building. There were flowers in full bloom near the main entrance and a small yard with emerald green grass surrounding the building.  
“This is it. This is where all of the NAP students live. Kansai, Ryoma, and Bei Ten live here too, so you guys will essentially be living together. I believe Ryoma is your roommate from what my dad told me,” Drake explained to Ryder.  
“Thank you, Drake,” Ryder said.  
“Whatever,” Drake said reluctantly back.  
“Why?”  
“What?”  
“Why did you help me home?”  
“Listen, don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t like you and I’m not nice. I honestly wish you had stayed in the Hidden Cloud Village...but I can’t lie. I do respect you,” Drake said humbly.  
“Where is this coming from?”  
“No one has ever beaten me in battle except for Bei Ten and Shiki. I got my ass handed to me today because I was cocky. I have to show you a little respect. I cursed your name after losing out of frustration and that was very unmanly of me. This is how I apologize for not being sportsmanlike,” Drake apologized.  
“I’m sorry too,” Ryder began. “I did not wish to embarrass you or your friends. In fact, I was provoked and tested by Kiata that I could not defeat you all. I only wished to join your sparring match.”  
“That little- I should have known it was her fault,” Drake snarled through gritted teeth.  
“Would you mind starting over then?” Ryder asked innocently.  
“Surely you’re joking,” Drake laughed. “I’m not gonna be friends with you. The only friends I need are Shiki and Bei. Once we get put on a team together, I don’t plan on interacting with any of you guys.”  
“What if you’re not put on a team together?” Ryder cut in.  
“Hmph. As if that would happen. We’re the strongest in the entire class. It would be the most beneficial to pair us together,”  
“That was the case before I showed up.”  
“What did you just say punk?” Drake began clenching his fist.  
“Think about it. You three were the most likely to be paired because you were undefeated, but now you all have one loss under your belts from someone besides each other. On top of that, you are the strongest of you three. Statistically speaking, when teams get chosen, it’s more likely that you, a second person, and myself will be paired together,” Ryder told the actively steaming Drake.  
“That’s not gonna happen! I’d rather die than pair with you! In fact, you don't know how things work around here evidently. During the graduation ceremony, Shino-sensei is going to pick the two best students in the class and they are gonna fight it out. The student who scored best in physical exams and the one who scored best in the knowledge exams. So that means me and Kiata are gonna end up fighting it out. I’m gonna kick her to the curb and I’ll officially be the strongest in the class, and when I win, Shino will have to put me with Shikamaru-sensei. Of course, he’s gonna pair me with Shiki and Bei too. You’ll probably get paired with those other NAP losers. That’s just what I know will happen. I’m not gonna let myself get worked up over this. I repaid you for earning my respect. After graduation and grouping, don’t forget that I declared to kick your ass too. Goodnight,” Drake forced. In a second, he turned around and began walking away.  
“Strongest versus smartest, hm?” Ryder muttered to himself. He went inside the building and made his way to his apartment to get some rest.


	2. Team 14 Assembles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the Ninja Academy graduation ceremony approaching, who will be placed into who's teams? The graduation duel is the talk of the crowd and everyone is anxious to see who will be duking it out. One of the most exciting days for the Hidden Leaf village is here!

Upon entering his new home, Ryder noticed it was very tidy, very pleasant, and very empty. A tall cat tree sat in the cornerwith Ryoma’s clean clothes folded nicely on it, but Ryoma was nowhere to be found.  
“Didn’t Drake say I would be living with Ryoma? I wonder where he could be at this time,” Ryder said to himself. He sat down on the well made bed and removed his tool bag and set it on the night stand near it. He peeled off his sweaty clothes and slipped into his pajamas and slid into bed. “Ugh, this bed is neat but it’s built so funny. What is this gross lump?” Ryder sat up and began to punch the center of the bed to smooth out the large lump. Suddenly, after one strike, a sharp shout was let out from beneath the bed. “What in the world?!” Ryder shouted.  
“Hey! What the hell gives? Where do you get off coming into my room trying to fight me in my slee-Oh! Ryder?” the bottom of the bed said.  
“Ryoma!?” Ryder questioned loudly. “Why are you under the bed?”  
“I sleep down here. Why are you punching my bed?”  
“I went to lie down and there was a large lump in the bed so I tried to level it out.”  
“Well now we’re both wide awake, might as well shoot the crap,” Ryoma said jumping to the top of his cat tree.  
“No, I’m actually very ti-,” Ryder was interrupted.  
“So, how’ve you been liking it so far?” Ryoma questioned while walking in a circle and getting settled in the top most cushion of the tree.  
“It’s been great. I filled out my papers, walked home with Drake, got comfortable here,” Ryder was cutoff again.  
“Wait. Drake walked you here?” Ryoma asked in a now concerned tone.  
“Yes. He told me it was a gesture of respect and to not expect him to be my friend, though.”  
“Please tell me you didn’t show any fear.”  
“Fear? Why would I be afraid of Drake?”  
“He was sizing you up kid. Had you shown an ounce of fear, he would have preyed on you forever.”  
“Maybe that explains why he was so frustrated when he walked away,” Ryder wondered.  
“Maybe. Probably upset that you’re not scared of him. Almost everyone is scared of him. I didn’t wanna tell you with Oma around, but after you beat those three so easily, we all kinda accepted you as the new strongest. Even Kiata, even though she won’t admit it.”  
“Really? Hm, strongest…” Ryder pondered.  
“Well, I really gotta get to bed. I know you wanna chit chat but some of us have school tomorrow,” Ryoma said with a wide mouthed, yet quiet yawn.  
“Ryoma, would you mind waking me up with you? I would like to attend class with you guys for the rest of the week,” Ryder pleaded.  
“You’re weird. I’d nap all day if I didn’t have to go to class. Fine, I’ll get you up. I might be lazy but I get up very early.”  
“Thank you,” Ryder got comfortable and began to lie down. “Oh! I forgot, which bed would you rather I sleep in?”  
“You can sleep in the bed that I’m not under. I’ll be up here tonight though,” Ryoma said in a drowsy mumble.  
“Very well then,” Ryder continued to lie down. He lie awake for several minutes staring at the ceiling. “They accept me as the new strongest?” he thought. He thought of everything regarding Drake he had gathered that day.  
“I have to show you a little respect...don’t forget that I declared to kick your ass too...where the hell do you get off showing up and acting like this?” Drake’s words floated through Ryder’s head.  
“Respect. Pride. What will he be if I take those from him?” Ryder whispered to himself. “I’ll make this right,” he declared silently. With a determined attitude, Ryder slowly drifted into sleep.  
\------------------------------  
Over the next few days, Ryder attended school with his classmates. Drake returned to class the day following the fight and Bei Ten and Shikana joined the following day after that. Ryder sat quietly, never answering questions and never asking questions. Just observing. Whenever he was asked to demonstrate for the class or asked to answer a question, he politely declined. After school everyday, he ran off to hang out with Oma, Inoi, Chouja, and Ryoma. He interacted with the other classmates often as well, but always making sure to avoid Drake. Bei Ten and Shikana had forgiven him for the fight, and even invited him to spar with them every now and then, but he always refused them.  
“Not until after graduation,” he always answered.  
Finally, the day came. Graduation. All of this ninja academy students arrived early to get dressed up and to practice positioning. Ryder continued to keep to himself, so as not to stand out.  
“Alright everyone. You’re looking good!” Shino spoke loudly. “You’ll all head back into the waiting room while the villagers file in and get seated. In one hour, you’ll all get inducted into the ninja world as genin. As is customary, we will still hold our graduation duel. The student that was voted by yourselves to be the strongest amongst yourselves will face off against the student who received the highest scores in the academy. The graduation duel won’t bear any prize or wish, but depending on the results of the battle, your team placement and squad leader could be altered based on how Hokage-sama judges the fight. The strongest and smartest will be announced after everyone has received their headbands. Are there any questions?” Shino asked.  
“No sir,” the congregation of youths said in unison.  
“Good. Now all of you go ahead and head back into the waiting room. You’ll be instructed when to line up, and once directed, you’ll follow these past steps to come out and stand. I’m proud of you guys. Now get back there,” Shino ordered.  
\--------------------------------  
Time had past. Everyone was restless and eager. They had been listening to Shino’s muffled overhead PA speech waiting for this moment. Suddenly, the jounin that stood by the door ordered everyone into line. A moment or two later, they were filing out of the waiting room and into the stadium. Dozens of people were present in the graduation hall. Small enough to host a graduating class of forty-two, but big enough for an exciting fight among newly promoted genin to break out. Once everyone was in place, Shino concluded his speech by telling them how proud he was of them once again.  
“Now, without further ado, our ninja academy graduates. Akimichi Chouja.” The kids began walking to the front to be handed their new leaf village headbands. “Bei Ten....Hyuga Kiata...Inuzuka Denka. Kansai. Kawanabi Ryder...Nara Shikana. Nekutama Ryoma...Nijimura Kokichi. Nijimura Oma…...Uchiha Drake….and Yamanaka Inoi. Ladies and gentlemen, this year’s ninja academy graduates!”  
The hall erupted with cheers. Three years of hard work had paid off. It was time for the children of this era to grow up and become full fledged ninja.  
“Now everyone, I would like to welcome to the stage Lord Naruto, to present two students, one of which was voted by their peers as the strongest ninja of their year. Be it in combat, or physical training, this ninja excelled in places their peers dreamed of. The other student has received the title of most intelligent. Having test scores and strategy plans that could lead armies, this student has shown that brawn is not the only thing you need when going into a mission. The two students selected will have a graduation duel here in this very hall. There will be no reward for victory. This is merely an effort to show you parents and citizens the strength of your future protectors and what the academy has taught them. Lord Hokage, if you will,” Shino stepped aside as Naruto stepped to the podium.  
“Thank you, Shino-sensei,” Naruto said as the applause died down. “Now, as we do every year, these results were compiled by two separate parties. The ninja who has received the highest grades was selected by Shino-sensei and the student voted strongest among their peers was voted by the students and tallied by my assistant, Kiba Inuzuka. No one knows the match up until I read off both separate results here and now, not even me. Without further ado, the student who ranked highest in their studies is,” Naruto paused, “our NAP transfer student, Ryder Kawanabi!”  
As the audience cheered, an angry voice was drowned out. “What!?” Kiata yelled.  
“Kiata, no…” a girl standing next to her tried to calm her.  
“How?! I don’t care about not being able to fight, but no one performed better than me! This is outrageous!” Kiata yelled.  
“All right everyone calm down. Ryder, would you please come forward?” Naruto gestured for him.  
As Ryder stepped forward, he could feel a pair of dagger eyes piercing him. Kiata was furious. She was docile, yet stern in personality, but when an insult to her intelligence arose she refused to back down.  
“Thank you Ryder. Now, the student who was voted by their peers as the strongest of their class is,” he paused again, “oh...um,” he stopped. Hey, Shino, could you come here for a second?” The congregation was filled with a low, confused murmur.  
“Lord Hokage, what’s wrong? Just read the name,” Shino muttered.  
“Uh, sure. Um...the, uh, student who has been voted as the strongest amongst their peers is...Ryder Kawanabi,” Naruto said flatly.  
The entire hall erupted in confusion. Everyone was shocked. Never before in history had someone been selected as smartest and voted as strongest. Drake, however, failed to harbor any confusion. He was purely furious. “STOP!” Drake shouted. The entire audience fell quiet. “Where in the world do you all get off voting him as the strongest? You know my track record far supersedes him! So how…” Drake was cut off.  
“We all saw him kick your ass with no effort,” Ryoma interrupted. “Face it, you’re not the strongest anymore.”  
“Drake, while I am aware of your combat success over the last three years, this vote was compiled by your peers who would know far more than I do,” Naruto added.  
“So then what? Is there just not going to be a graduation duel then?” Kansai asked.  
“I’m not sure. Uh...oh! I’ve got it!” Naruto perked up. “Ryder, since this is the first time we’ve ever had this happen, your reward for being given the title as strongest and smartest, we’ll let you choose who you want your opponent be in the graduation duel,” Naruto declared.  
This caused a massive uproar amongst the students. Several students shouting for them to be selected, students begging to not be selected, pranksters telling Ryder to select their friends, the friends shouting for their call out to be chosen. Suddenly, Drake fought his way to the front of the group. “Ryder!” Drake shouted. “You know what to do! Let’s settle this officially!”  
“Ryder looked at Drake with a convicted glare and nodded. Ryder turned back towards the villagers. “I know who I choose to battle,” he declared. “The person I want to fight in the graduation duel...is Hokage Naruto!”  
“WHAT?!” Drake yelled.  
“Huh?” Naruto said surprised.  
“We both know my situation. No one is a better opponent for me here than you,” Ryder said.  
“Hey, Ryder,” Shino started, “why don’t you pick someone in your class to fight? That way it will be a fair…” Shino was cut off.  
“I’ll do it!” Naruto said.  
“W-wait, Lord Hokage, maybe-”  
“On one condition,” Naruto added. “Because of the difference in our strength, this wouldn’t be fun if it ended quickly because of that. I’ll accept your declaration if you agree to select two of your classmates to assist you in this battle.”  
“I agree,” Ryder said. “I already know who my choices are. Before my arrival, my class already had a clear front runner for smartest and strongest. My allies here will be Kiata Hyuga and Drake Uchiha.”  
The two shouted in unison, but their words were jumbled and incoherent. “No, Ryder, I don’t want to fight with you! I want to kick your ass,” Drake said.  
“Likewise,” Kiata said hatefully. “I wish not to battle by your side.”  
“That is a shame,” Naruto replied. “Had the three of you managed to beat me, you would each receive one thing you wish for. Within reason of course,” he picked at them.  
“Huh?!” the three of them said shocked. Kiata and Drake joined Ryder on stage quickly.  
“Anything within reason, huh?” Kiata said to herself.  
“I think that’s enticing enough for me to comply,” Drake said with a smug smile.  
“Then we’re in agreement,” Ryder said. “Lord Naruto, we’re going to defeat you here in this graduation duel!”  
“Very well then,” Naruto replied, cracking his knuckles. “Shino, Kiba, students...would you all mind clearing the stage away and finding seats?”  
“Yes, Lord Naruto!” the students replied.  
In the few minutes it took for everyone to clear the floor, Ryder, Drake, and Kiata devised a strategy. “Does that make sense you two?” Kiata asked. “We don’t stand an ounce of a chance against the Hokage if we don’t work well together. Hell, even if we follow this strategy to the letter, we’re still liable to get our asses handed to us on a silver platter, but this is our best chance at victory. What are you guys going to ask for if we win?” Kiata asked.  
“Of course I’m gonna tell them I want Shiki Bei and I to be on a team together,” Drake scoffed.  
“Typical,” Kiata said. “I’m going to request to be given a letter of recommendation for the chuunin exams. After graduation, I plan to fast track my way to being a jounin and making my way to being a leader in the Hyuga clan. What about you Ryder?”  
Ryder seemed upset. He answered in a downcast tone, “If we win, I am going to request to be transferred back to this Hidden Cloud Village.”  
“What?!” the other two said in awe.  
“Ryder, what kind of joke?” Drake said angrily.  
“It’s clear that I am not wanted here. Both of you hate me, and everyone only hangs out with me because I am the new kid. I won’t fit in with any group I am placed in, so why pretend. I messed up Kiata’s chance of being voted smartest in class, and I’ve messed up so much for you too Drake. If we win, I’ll just go back home and perhaps cousin Darui can find me a squad to join from there,” Ryder explained with a forced smile.  
“Ryder…” Drake said worried.  
“Alright you guys. You all set?” Naruto asked the trio.  
“Uh, yea,” Kiata answered. “We’re ready.”  
“Then, let’s do this,” Naruto took a stance.  
“Alright you two,” Ryder said stepping forward, “We know what we want from this victory. So let’s win and achieve our goals.” Ryder was determined to win no matter what.  
“Alright,” Shino said aloud, “let the graduation duel between Ryder, Drake, and Kiata versus Lord Naruto begin!”  
Immediately, the trio split apart. Kiata and Drake flanked Naruto on both sides. Ryder jumped and was above. Naruto stood in his position unmoved. He looked around at all three of them. “A triangular assault, huh? How any of you managed to be titled smartest is beyond me.” Naruto stood tall and put his hands together in a plus shape. “Shadow Clone Jutsu!” he shouted. Two clones appeared on either side of him and one behind him. The one behind him jumped to meet Ryder from above. The trio were all caught and met by Naruto’s clones. “Sorry, but I promised I wouldn’t go easy,” Naruto said. His clones hit the trio in their stomachs. Suddenly, the three vanished. “Oh! Substitutes? Then where…”  
“Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!”  
“What?” Naruto looked down to his right side. The shout came from his tool pouch. A massive ball of fire erupted from Naruto’s tool bag. He quickly detached it, but was a second too late. The attack grazed Naruto and he fell back a bit. His shadow clones were released as well. A few kunai fell from his pouch. Suddenly, a few of the kunai transformed. It was Ryder, Drake, and Kiata. The three had serious looks on their faces. Kiata’s eyes were strained and intense. Her Byakugan was active. Drake’s Sharingan was also active. Ryder, too, had strange eyes. They were an odd mix of orange and his normal brown. Ryder was emitting a faint, but odd chakra. “Hm, so not only am I up against the smartest Byakugan and the strongest Sharingan, but also a little Sage mode too. Doesn’t look like you’ve really got the hang of it though. I should’ve known better than to think I’d win so easily,” Naruto said while standing up and brushing himself off. “Who would’ve thought disguising yourself as my tools while I was distracted with clones would have given you such a big opening. I wasn’t expecting to get hit, but now I’m worried I might actually lose here,” he said to the three.  
“We’ve got a lot at stake here, believe it or not,” Kiata said.  
“We won’t lose just because you’re the Hokage,” Drake announced.  
“Sorry Lord Naruto,” Ryder said, “but I have to win here.”  
Kiata and Drake made a quick glance at Ryder with disdain. It was as if Ryder’s intentions for winning were impure in their eyes.  
“Then come. Show me what your generation’s brightest have to offer,” Naruto vanished. He reappeared behind the three and followed through with a low sweep. The three jumped. “Hmph,” Naruto watched as they floated above him. He smirked. He weaved hand signs and stopped on the final sign. “Wind Style. Raging Hurricane!” A violent rush of wind rushed from behind Naruto and up into the three.  
“This is…” Ryder quickly grabbed Drake and Kiata by their arms, spun them around, and threw them to the side. He began to weave hand signs of his own. The same that Naruto performed. “Wind Style. Raging Hurricane Bullets!” He pointed his hands at Naruto as if his two hands were guns.  
“Isn’t that the move…” Drake wondered to himself.  
“Drake, there’s no time to think!” Kiata shouted.  
“Right!” Drake began to weave hand signs when electricity suddenly began to envelope his hand. Once he landed, he flew towards Naruto. “Chidori!” Ryder began to fire wind bullets at Naruto’s attack, repelling his advance. Drake quickly rushed toward Naruto on the offense. Naruto, wide open, then noticed Drake in enough time to dodge and grab Drake’s arm to throw him past himself, but Drake was ready to be countered. With his free hand, he grabbed Naruto’s other arm and stopped on the ground in front of Naruto. “Gotcha,” Drake uttered.  
“Huh? Oh!” Naruto realized someone was missing. Kiata. He looked behind him and saw her.  
“This is it!” Kiata, in a low stance behind Naruto prepared her attack. She began her flurry of attacks on Naruto as Drake freed himself from Naruto’s grip and Ryder jumped out of the way. “Two palms!” Kiata shouted as she struck Naruto with speed and finesse. “Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms. Thirty-two palms!” Kiata spun around and focused. “NOW YOU TWO!” Kiata commanded.  
“Right!” Drake and Ryder said together.  
“Fire style!” Drake’s hands, held like tiger paws, began to ignite. “Tiger’s Strike!”  
“Wind Style! Raging Hurricane Bullets!” Ryder shouted.  
“Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms!” Kiata yelled.  
Ryder began firing wind bullets at Naruto, while Drake began a flurry of strikes. Kiata landed 63 final strikes before landing her final hit.  
“Combination Attack!” the trio announced in unison. “Great Phoenix Strike!” Kiata made a final strike directed at Naruto’s core, while Drake attacked with a final fiery punch. Ryder ended with two large torrents of wind, which sent Naruto into the air, picking up the flames, creating a massive, fiery vortex. When it petered out, Naruto fell back to the floor, unmoving.  
“Did...did we do it?” Drake said completely out of breath. The entire hall had fallen quiet.  
“Not quite,” a voice muttered. Naruto’s body vanished.  
“Huh?” Kiata stammered. In the blink of an eye, she was struck in the neck and fell down.  
“Kiata!” Drake shouted as he, too, was knocked out suddenly.  
“This is…” Ryder suddenly jumped into the air. He managed to avoid it just in time. “Tsk. He’s so fast. They didn’t stand a chance.” He landed. “In that case, just a little should be fine. Gotta be quick.” Ryder put his hands together and began gathering chakra. Strong winds began to swarm around Ryder.  
Then, Naruto appeared sliding in as if he was running very fast. He was coated in powerful chakra that resembled flames. It was Kurama’s chakra. He had unlocked his tailed beast’s chakra and used the nine tailed fox to move at speeds which made him seemingly invisible. “Wait, Ryder that’s…”  
The chakra building around Ryder turned from blue to a gold color. When Ryder opened his eyes, they were solid gold. “Don’t worry Lord Naruto, I’m not going all out. Prepare your next move. We’ll end this now!” Ryder said.  
“Hmph, I see. If you think you’ll defeat me with the jutsu I taught you, you’re a fool, but I’ll oblige,” Naruto summoned a clone and had it begin forming a sphere of chakra in his hand. When the sphere was complete, the clone vanished.  
Ryder nodded his head and held his hand out to his side. He began to gather similar chakra into his hand. “Ready?” Ryder asked Naruto.  
“Are you?” Naruto replied. The two leapt towards each other.  
“Rasengan!” the two shouted. As their jutsu clashed, energy exploded from their hands. Wind ravaged the hall and the onlookers were made to cover their faces from the immense winds rushing past them. The two pushed against each other harder and harder. Fur began to sprout from Ryder’s knuckles.  
“I can’t lose,” Ryder thought. “If I can’t get transferred back, those two will hate me forever.” The words of Drake and Kiata swirled in his head.  
“I want to kick your ass...Likewise, I wish not to battle by your side,” Their words fueled Ryder. The gold in his eyes began to spread to his eyelids and face. The fur on his knuckles quickly burst out from his hand and spread up his arm. All of a sudden, Naruto’s rasengan turned a deep red. He could see what was happening to Ryder and needed to stop him. He filled his rasengan with Kurama’s chakra and natural chakra as well. He then quickly overpowered Ryder. Ryder’s arm was knocked away and he was struck with Naruto’s rasengan square in the chest. Ryder was sent backwards hitting the ground and skipping back. The fur on his arms disappeared and the gold in his eyes receded and returned to normal. As he began to lose consciousness he saw Naruto approaching him.  
“Naruto-dono,” Ryder said through gritted teeth, “thank you for such a fun battle.” Ryder smiled before passing out.  
“Anytime kiddo,” Naruto said to Ryder’s unconscious body.  
“The three graduates are unable to battle. Lord Hokage is the victor!” Shino announced. The audience cheered at the top of their lungs. Naruto gestured to Sasuke and Kiba to come down.  
“Sasuke, take Drake. Kiba...Kiata. I’ll take Ryder. Get them patched up and back here for the pairing ceremony. I only knocked them out. Ryder might need a bit more care, but I’ll have him back in time too. Shino!” Naruto called.  
“Yes, Lord Hokage?”  
“Continue with the ceremony. These three will be back in time for the pairing, but try to delay it for a while. Maybe an intermission is in order?” Naruto suggested.  
“Of course, Lord Hokage,” Shino agreed.  
\------------------------------  
An hour had passed since Naruto carted Ryder, Kiata, and Drake off to rest. Drake and Kiata were resting in beds in on opposite sides of Ryder. The former two were awake and resting while Ryder still slept. Naruto had used his sage abilities to help Ryder recover quick;y, but he would still need a bit of rest before he would have the energy to move about again.  
“Hey, Drake,” Kiata broke the silence, “what’s going to happen now?”  
“What do you mean?” he returned.  
“With Ryder, I mean. Of course, our intentions for winning were material. A letter of recommendation, a sure pairing...but he was just going to get transferred back home, because we made him uncomfortable here. It wasn’t a group effort either. You heard him. He said the others hang out with him because he’s new, but they genuinely do like him, and even when he told us that, I feel like he only added that so as not to make us feel bad for making him feel that way. Face it, we were awful to him. He had every right to hate us and instead, in the end, he was going to sacrifice his one wish to make us happy, and further inconvenience himself.” Kiata went on. “Now, since we’ve lost, he won't be able to make that request. He’s going to continue living here under the impression that he’s unwanted.”  
“Because he is,” Drake said rudely.  
“Drake that’s enough!” Kiata snapped.  
“I’m serious! He came in here and started screwing shit up for the both of us,” he returned.  
“Ok, we get it. He kicked your ass in an unofficial battle that you weren’t prepared for. Big deal! We have literally bullied this boy into wanting to scrap his NAP and go back home. We didn’t do that to Kansai, or Ryoma, and you definitely didn’t treat Bei Ten that way either.”  
“Yea, but Bei Ten is strong,”  
“And evidently Ryder is too, far more than Bei Ten, and just about more than you too!” Kiata fired back. “We let him threaten us. We were so comfortable in the idea that we were better than our classmates, that we weren’t prepared to be told we were average compared to others out there, and that’s exactly what happened. The first person to ever be given the title of smartest and strongest? We’re ten years too early to go against Ryder,” she explained. Drake was visibly irritated by her words, but he knew she was right. His pride would not let him admit it, but Drake had been wrong about Ryder the whole time. “We need to set things right before we go back out there for the pairing ceremony. We both saw what he did out there, and how well he performed. How well we performed. I also know that after that final hit that took us out, you woke back up to watch because I did too. Even on his own he fought to win so that we would be able to benefit from his wish, and now he won’t even get that,” she went on.  
Ryder began groaning. “Nurse…” he whispered.  
“Hey, nurse!” Kiata yelled. “I think he’s waking up! He’s calling for someone.”  
A woman entered the room. She had long, blonde hair and a very gentle look on her face. “What seems to be the problem?” she asked.  
“Hey, you’re Ino-sensei!” Kiata said amazed. “I thought you did maternity work outside of the village?”  
“That’s my specialty, but I came home today for the graduation ceremony. I couldn’t bear to miss my little Inoi graduate. After that battle, Lord Naruto asked me to help nurse you back to health so the graduation intermission wouldn’t be as long,” she explained.  
“Wow, you’re impressive!” Kiata exclaimed with stars in her eyes. “Oh, right. I think Ryder is waking up. He started moaning and calling for a nurse.”  
“Hm let’s see,” she placed two fingers to his neck and her hear to his stomach. “Labored breathing, irregular pulse. A fever, huh? Not on my watch,” she grabbed a chair and sat in it next to Ryder. She placed her hands into a triangular form and placed them on Ryder’s head. “Mind Transfer Jutsu,” she muttered. Ino’s body went limp. Suddenly, Ryder sat up.  
“Whew, definitely a fever,” Ino said through Ryder. “This boy got hit pretty hard. Those cracked ribs seem to be healing nicely. Motion in the ankles, wrist seems to be improving. Neck is-OW ow ow!” she belted out. “Better not do that again. Shoulders seem to be mobile again. Alright, here we go,” Ryder put his hands together and began to surround himself with pale green chakra.  
“Woah, this is medical ninjutsu, huh?” Drake said in awe.  
“I see. Ino-sensei is one of the top medic ninjas because she can transfer herself into her patients, get an accurate assessment of what’s going on, and then she can begin healing the patient using their own chakra. It’s genius!” Kiata explained.  
Then, Ryder put his arms back down and lied down on his back. “Release,” he muttered.  
Ino’s body began moving again. She stood up, grabbed her notes, and began writing things down. “How that boy is alive is far beyond me,” Ino said. “He seemed to be fine mostly, but whatever that Rasengan was that Naruto hit him with did a large number on him. He’s healing nicely though. You guys have quite the ally on your team,” Ino told the two.  
“We’re not teammates,” Drake said annoyed.  
“Did you all not fight together?” she questioned him.  
“Well yea but…” Drake was interrupted.  
“Sounds like a team to me. You two would’ve been dead meat if not for him. I’d even argue you guys were dead weight to him. Maybe if he had picked Inoi,” Ino picked at them.  
“Hey, lady! We did good out there ok? We got quite a few hits on Lord Hokage! Even Shiki and Bei couldn’t…” he stopped. Kiata looked at Drake in shock. Was he about to speak ill on his best friends’ combat abilities? Drake resumed, “Look, I can admit, the guy is strong, but he wouldn’t have landed a hit on the Hokage if not for me and Kiata and that’s a fact.”  
“Interesting,” Ino said. “Well, your ‘classmate’ is making quite the recovery. I’d say he’ll be waking up in about 30 minutes, so if you want to speak on him anymore without his knowledge, I’d do it now.” She shot them a glance from the side of her eye. Ino then left the room jotting down more notes.  
“Ah to hell with her,” Drake said.  
“Drake, what was that you were about to say about Bei Ten and Shikana?”  
“Shut. Up. Kiata,” Drake said frustrated.  
Ryder began moving around. ‘Dr...ake? Ki...ata?” he managed.  
“Hey, you alright Ryder?” Kiata asked worried. Ryder groaned while trying to sit up. “Hey, take it easy. Ino-sensei said you’re healing but she said something was up with your…” Ryder leaned his head to the left and began to push his head down in that direction. A loud and vicious cracking sound erupted from his neck. He leaned his head to the right and repeated this action resulting in a much louder, painful sounds series of crunching sounds. “...neck,” Kiata said quietly in shock.  
“Whoooo! That felt great! I knew my neck was feeling tight during our fight! I forgot to crack it. I imagine all that moving around probably made it stiffen. I feel right as rain!” Ryder raised his hands into the air with a huge smile on his face. Suddenly, he stood up and began contorting his body in many different ways. His entire body sounded like a fresh glow stick being activated for the first time.  
“Ino-sensei!” Kiata screamed.  
Ino rushed into the room. “What? What’s wrong!?” she said panicked.  
“Oh, you must be Ino-sensei! Thanks for all your help. I feel like a brand new man,” Ryder exclaimed.  
“Geez,” Drake said disappointedly, “this guy is quite the handful.”  
“Well, I see you’ve made a wonderful recovery,” Ino said with a smile.  
“Wait a minute! When you were in his body didn’t you say something was still wrong with his neck?!” Kiata shouted.  
“Well, yes. It was extremely tight. So much so that even slightly turning was excruciating,” Ino said.  
“Then why…” Kiata asked nervously.  
“I didn’t do any real healing jutsu that last time. I used his chakra to help administer a type of anesthesia. A kind of ‘Pain Killer Jutsu’, if you will,” Ino explained. “All that remained was for him to realize he couldn’t feel the pain anymore and to move his head around some to loosen it up.”  
“Why couldn’t you have done it though?”  
“Oh, Kiata come now, I’m a medical ninja. I can’t go around prescribing bone cracking as a form of healthcare. I applied anesthesia as I should. Maybe I hinted to him on my way out that he was suffering from tightened cartilage and muscles and should probably stretch it out if he felt up to it,” Ino began laughing.  
“Sounds like an excuse to be lazy to me,” Drake whispered to himself.  
“So, Ryder, how are you feeling?” Ino asked.  
“Like I could take on Lord Naruto again. I want a rematch!” Ryder exclaimed.  
“What?!” Kiata and Drake shouted together.  
“What kind of drugs did they use on you?” Drake asked shocked.  
“As your healthcare provider, I can’t allow you to fight so soon, but if that’s how you feel, maybe you all are fine to rejoin the others for the ceremony, I assume?” Ino suggested.  
“Right! Let’s go,” Ryder said.  
“Hey, some of us are still recovering here!” Kiata yelled.  
\----------------------------------  
Roughly thirty minutes passed. Ino stepped into the graduation hall waiting room with Ryder, Drake, and Kiata. “Guess who’s back?” she said to Shino.  
“Good to see you guys back in top shape. How are you feeling?” Shino asked.  
“All healed up, sensei!” Ryder said.  
“Good. Intermission will be ending soon. It’s time for you all to be sorted into your teams,” Shino announced to the small room.  
The students began to file out of the room back into the hall behind Shino. When they reached their previous spot, Shino took to the stage and began to speak. “Thank you everyone for your patience. We will now begin the Shinobi Squad grouping ceremony,” the audience clapped. “These teams will be the pairs that will work together to help this village flourish and protect its citizens. Without further ado, when I call your name step forward onto the platforms in front of me with your assigned team number. Team One,” Shino began calling names. The first two teams were made up of ninja in other classes that Ryder did not know. Then the first familiar name was heard. “Team Three! Oma Nijimura, Denka Inuzuka, and Ryoma Nekutama!”  
Oma cheered. He did not actually care who his teammates were; all he wanted was to make his new allies think he was hoping for this pairing. “Looks like you’re stuck with me guys,” Oma said to Denka and Ryoma.  
“I secretly wished for this pairing,” Ryoma said to himself. The three made their way to the platform that had a large “3” on it.  
The team pairing continued. It seemed to go one forever. Ryder had still yet to be called. He kept a happy appearance, but deep down he was downcast. He secretly hoped that by the time the fourteenth team was called, he would have been not chosen and instead sent back home by default.  
“Team Eight! Kansai, Kokichi Nijimura, and Bei Ten!”  
“What!?” Drake shouted. He recoiled in pain. He had not fully healed from the earlier fight.  
“So it’s like this, hm?” Bei Ten said to himself. He rose up and made his way to the stage. Kansai and Kokichi stood next to him. “If this is how it must be, I will ensure we won’t be defeated. I expect the same effort from you two,” Bei Ten seemed strangely unbothered by the situation.  
“That’s my line,” Kansai said with confidence.  
“I promise I won’t let you guys down,” Kokichi tried to assure them.  
“Whatever,” Drake muttered to himself through gritted teeth, “I can still get paired up with Shiki.”  
Not too long after, Shino announced, “Team Ten! Chouja Akimichi, Inoi Yamanaka, and Shikana Nara!”  
“Are you serious!?” Drake tried to stand and shout, but his ribs did not agree with that motion.  
“Drake stop it,” Kiata whispered to him.  
“Kiata?”  
“Don’t you see what’s happened?” she said to him.  
“What do you mean?”  
“After the spectacle that was that fight, you should know exactly what happens next,” she said. “It’s too obvious.”  
“Damnit. I hate that you’re right. God, why couldn’t we have just won?”  
Shino announced the members of Team 13. “And last but not least, Team 14! Kiata Hyuga, Drake Uchiha, and Ryder Kawanabi!”  
Drake sighed heavily and muttered a curse. He rose up with Kiata and they made their way to the stage, but they were one person short.  
“Hey, where’s Ryder?” Kiata asked.  
Ryder was nowhere to be found in the hall.  
“Ryder Kawanabi, please make your way to the stage,” Shino said into the microphone. No response.  
“I was worried about this,” Naruto mumbled to himself. “Sasuke?”  
“I’m on it,” Sasuke replied. Sasuke took his leave to find Ryder.  
“That poor kid,” Naruto thought to himself. He recalled an earlier conversation between Ino and himself.  
\-------------------------------------  
“How’s he doing, Ino? Is he gonna be ok?”  
“That attack did quite a number on him. You really should try to hold back on children, doofus.”  
“He was starting to lose control, I had no choice.”  
“True, he told me that in his head space. He’s going to be fine. I’m sure he’ll make a full recovery in an hour or so. I’d be more worried about his mental health, though.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I asked him what his request would have been out of curiosity and he told me he was going to request to be transferred back to the Hidden Cloud Village.”  
“What!?”  
“He says he doesn’t fit in. He says the other kids only hang out with him because he’s a new face, and he claims he ruined things for Kiata and Drake and now they hate him. Sounds like after that fight he’s aware of the possibility that they’ll be paired together and they’re going to hate him even more. He was going to request to go home so they could carry on with their lives.”  
“That’s tough, but he wouldn’t have been able to go back because,”  
“I know.”  
“Well let’s get him healed up and I’ll have a talk with him after the ceremony.”  
\-------------------------------------  
Ryder sat alone on the roof of the graduation hall. With his knees to his chest and his arms pulling them close, he sat and thought to himself.  
“So thi is where you went,” Sasuke said from behind. “You know it’s against the rules for you guys to leave the ceremony early. I thought you said you’d behave?” Sasuke said with a lighthearted chuckle.  
“They hate me,” Ryder mumbled.  
“They don’t hate you,” Sasuke tried to reassure him.  
“They do,” Ryder threw a tape recorder to Sasuke. He caught it.  
“Hm?” Sasuke pressed the play button.  
The tape recorder began playing back a conversation:

“Now, since we’ve lost, he won't be able to make that request. He’s going to continue living here under the impression that he’s unwanted,” Kiata’s voice echoed.  
“Because he is,” Drake said.  
“Drake that’s enough!”  
“I’m serious! He came in here and started screwing shit up for the both of us.”  
“Ok, we get it. He kicked your ass in an unofficial battle that you weren’t prepared for. Big deal! We have literally bullied this boy into wanting to scrap his NAP and go back home,” 

Sasuke stopped the recorder and sighed. “They’re just angry Ryder,” Sasuke tried to console him.  
“No!” Ryder shouted. He stood up and began pacing hastily. “They’ve been treating me this way since I first showed up, and now I have to be paired up with them. Drake wanted to be with Shikana and Bei and Kiata has her own dreams. I’m an obstacle for both of them now! I just want to go back home. At least there, I have friends. At least there, I have my family. I’m welcomed there,” Ryder went on. “We didn’t win against Lord Naruto so now I’m stuck here in a team with the two people that all I ever wanted was to be friends with. From the moment Kiata challenged my strength I knew she’d be a great friend that could give great advice, and after fighting with Drake the first time, I knew we’d be close friends. All I’ve wanted since day one is to be their friend and they hate me!” Ryder began to cry. “I had the same issue back home, not wanted around because I was the Raikage’s nephew. I was too snooty and boring for them. No one wanted to be my friend. It wasn’t until I started acting out that they wanted to be around me because they saw I wasn’t what they perceived me to be. I’m more than the Raikage’s nephew and I’m not just a monster. I just want to find where I belong,” Ryder stopped.  
“Have you told them this?” Sasuke asked.  
“Of course not, why would they even care?’  
“I think they might.”  
“What do you kno-” Ryder turned towards Sasuke to see Drake and Kiata being held up by seemingly nothing. “Drake...Kiata…”  
“Ryder, I had no idea,” Kiata said solemnly.  
“I’m sorry you’ve had it so tough. I really didn’t mean to make you upset like this,” Drake followed up remorsefully.  
“Why are you guys acting sorry now?” Ryder said, beginning to show anger. “Is it because you’re in front of your dad, Drake? Is it because bullying isn’t tolerated and it could ruin your future, Kiata? Why are you so suddenly sorry?”  
“Dad, can you let us go and get out of here?” Drake said annoyed.  
“Play nice,” Sasuke said releasing his limbo. “Ryder, if you need anything, give me a shout.”  
“Ryder,” Drake started, “I didn’t know you didn’t have a family. All of the NAP people were selected because of family recommendations. I figured you were just another snooty rich kid who was gonna throw money at all of his problems. I’m the only remaining Uchiha aside from my dad of course. I’d have siblings, but my mom can't have kids anymore, so the lineage stops with me for the time being. I work so hard to be the strongest so I can overcome my pain and perils and be able to revive my clan when I get older. I refuse to let my descendants suffer the same loneliness I feel. I don’t have a family either, so I feel bad that we relate in that aspect except you’re now in a town where you know no one. You really are completely alone here and I was too prideful to realize that,” Drake explained.  
“I’m sorry too,” Kiata began. “I grew up shamed by my entire family for being the bastard child of my mother. The heir to the head family name with no present father. My own family didn’t want me around because they blamed me for my father’s death. He died when I was born. My mother and brother assure me I am not at fault, but the silent whispers of a clan scream louder than the praises of your own blood. Even with this hatred pointed at me, there was still nothing they could do. I am the heir to the head family. This doesn’t mean they can’t maliciously manipulate a young girl. I spend all my time trying to study and become a genius so I can lead my clan with a powerful spine and show them how wrong they were. Their cruelty sets me alone in this world. Like Drake, I have empathy for you. It’s hard not having a family,” Kiata finished.  
“I had no idea,” Ryder said. “You guys have so many friends though. You’re not really alone.”  
“Everyone fears me because I’m powerful,” Drake argued.  
“And everyone avoids me because I can be a bit prissy,” Kiata added.  
“No amount of friends can eliminate this feeling,” Drake said.  
“What you said about how you felt about us is the friendliest thing anyone has ever said about us,” Kiata told him.  
“Even Bei and Shiki can be a bit cold to me sometimes,” Drake said angrily.  
“So what does this mean?” Ryder asked the two.  
“It means,” Kiata said as she and Drake extended their hands to Ryder, “we’re happy to have you as our teammate.  
Ryder was shocked. “Really?”  
“Yea really,” Drake said reluctantly. “Besides, this way I’ll never miss my opportunity to kick your ass as repayment for the other day,” he said with a smirk.  
Ryder took both of their hands. “Alright then. Drake. Kiata. I’m happy to be apart of Team 14 with you guys!”  
\----------------------------------------  
The three returned to the hall with Sasuke. Sasuke took to the podium as the three stood on the platform with the “14” painted on it. “We apologize for the disappearance everyone. There was an emergency with Team 14 that needed to be taken care of. Shino, if you will,” Sasuke returned to the stands.  
“Welcome back Team 14. Now, everyone, this concludes our graduation ceremony. These fourteen squads will be your guardians, errand runners, and transporters for generations to come. We wish them all good luck in their future endeavors. Teams one through fourteen, exit through the doors on the right and as you leave you will be given a scroll. These scrolls will give you the location and time to be present at to meet your new squad leaders. I wish you all farewell,” Shino concluded.  
The squads all exited the building receiving their information for when and where to meet their squad leaders.  
‘Oooooh, I wonder who we’re gonna get!” Oma said mischievously. “I hope we get someone cool who lets us play pranks.”  
“I doubt that will happen,” Denka replied.  
Finally, Ryder received the scroll from the man handing them out. He opened it with the other two. Ryder read aloud, “Time: night of receiving this scroll, twenty-two hundred hours? We’re meeting in 3 hours? Seems kind of late don’t you think? Place: Irrelevant? Is this some kind of joke?”  
“Let me see,” Drake snatched the scroll. “What the hell? Hey Bei!”  
“Hm?” Bei Ten replied.  
“Let me see your scroll.”  
“Of course.”  
“Time oh-nine hundred hours. Place Yamanaka residence. What the hell? They got actual instructions. Not only that, they’re supposed to meet up tomorrow morning. Why do we gotta meet tonight?” Drake said confused. “Hey, Shino-sensei!”  
“Yes, Drake?” Shino said walking over.  
“What’s up with these instructions? Irrelevant? Meet in 3 hours? Is this a prank?”  
“Oh, it certainly isn’t,” Shino explained. “The three of you need to be together in three hours time, and then you won’t need to worry about finding your squad leader. He will find you,” Shino told them. Shino took his leave. Bei Ten took his scroll back.  
“Sounds like you guys are going to have fun,” Bei Ten laughed. He walked away to rejoin his group.  
“I guess we just go for a walk?” Ryder suggested.  
\------------------------------------  
A while later, the three ended up in the training field. Lit only by the moonlight, it was completely empty. The occasional cricket’s song filled the air, but aside from that, it was dead quiet.  
“This place is beautiful at night,” Ryder said in awe. “Almost makes you forget about your troubles.”  
“Almost makes you forget about getting your ass handed to ya that’s for sure,” Drake added. He began to wander off toward a group of trees.  
“You’re annoying,” Kiata snapped back. She sighed, “Well, it’s about time. Do we just wait around and wait for them to show up?”  
“Hey guys!” Drake shouted. “Over here!”  
“Drake, we’re supposed to be sticking together. Stop going off on your own.” Kiata got up off her log and began walking towards Drake.  
“Kiata, no,” Ryder stopped her.  
“Hm? Ryder move,” Kiata demanded.  
“Hey, Drake!” Ryder called.  
“What’s up?”  
“Catch!” Ryder threw a small ball to Drake. Drake caught the ball and examined it.  
“I don’t get it. What’s it for?” he asked.  
“Verification,” Ryder said. The small ball exploded and yellow powder went everywhere.  
“Ha. Ha. You got me. Come here, seriously,” Drake beckoned.  
“Ryder was that?” Kiata asked worriedly.  
“Yeah. Ok, ‘Drake’ here’s what we’re gonna do. You’re gonna come out of the forest and tell us who you are and what you did with the real Drake and we won’t strike you down,” Ryder commanded.  
“Ryder, what are you talking abou-” a rush of wind tore through Drake’s chest. Ryder had fired a wind bullet directly into him.  
“Ryder!” Kiata screamed.  
“So, how did you know?” the imposter said.  
“Well on top of never being this cheery, Drake is allergic to processed cheese powder. That’s what you’re currently covered in and yet you haven’t broken into a single hive,” Ryder explained.  
“How did you know that, Ryder?”  
“In my time with Oma, he managed to get blood from Drake so he could run an allergen test. We made itch bombs and opened them into his underwear drawer as a prank,” Ryder told her.  
“I should’ve known it was something stupid,” Kiata said.  
“Well, you discovered me, but what can you do about it?” the Drake imposter melted into the ground and vanished.  
“Drake!” Kiata shouted.  
“You’re smarter than that Kiata, just find him with your Byakugan.”  
“Right.” Kiata put her hands together and gathered chakra. Her eyes tensed up. “Byakugan!” she shouted. Suddenly, so much became clear to her. She was able to see in all directions for several miles. She could find Drake easily with this. “Wait, I can’t see him anywhere. Ryder, what’s going on- Ryder!?” Kiata cried out.  
“Kiata, I can’t move. Run!” Ryder was standing in place holding his kunai to his own throat.  
“Ryder what’s happening?” Kiata asked. Then, Drake surfaced from a black pool next to Kiata completely chained down in black sludge. His eyes were covered in black goo. A man rose up from a similar pool behind Ryder. He had a kunai pointed at his own throat too. He swiveled his knife to be held at Ryder’s throat and Ryder’s arm moved the same way.  
“Kill that boy, or I’ll kill this one,” the man said.  
“Kiata, no!” Ryder yelled. “I’ve got this.” Ryder closed his eyes and wind began to surround him. Small cuts began to form in the man’s clothes. He jumped away from Ryder and Ryder was able to move again. His eyes began to turn gold. He then vanished and appeared beneath the man as he was falling. He weaved hand signs and then lowered his arm as electricity began to crackle at his fingertips.  
“That sound...chidori?” Drake questioned.  
“Lightning style! Static Spear!” Ryder yelled. A jolt of electricity shot up into the man, but it passed through him as if he had no mass.  
“Shadow force,” the man said. He turned into a large black dome that covered Ryder.  
“Damn it! I can’t just sit here and do nothing,” Drake said angrily.  
“You can’t see. Just don’t move,” Kiata warned.  
Drake darted directly towards the man and Ryder. He jumped and began weaving many hand signs very quickly. “Ryder! If you can hear me! Aim up! Fire Style! Phoenix Flower Jutsu!” Drake spit several massive fiery petals at the black dome.  
“Wind Style! Rising Vortex!” Ryder shouted from inside the dome. A small hurricane formed inside the dome, but never managed to break to the outside. As for the fire style jutsu, a similar outcome came from the outside. No effect.  
“Damn, I can’t get him out,” Drake cursed.  
“Drake, get away from there! Something’s happening inside!”  
A massive amount of chakra began to pour out from inside the dome. Suddenly, the black dome shrunk down, wrapping Ryder completely, quelling his chakra. As quickly as the fight started, it ended when the dome vanished and the man jumped away from Ryder and landed on the branch of a nearby tree.  
“All right. That’s enough. Ryder, put that away or I’ll seal it away for good. Kiata, release those eyes. You’ll go blind if you strain too hard. Drake, wonderful performance as always, but you’re too rash. Stop running into battles you can’t win,” the man began instructing.  
“What the- who do you think you are critiquing us?” Drake said angrily.  
The man jumped down and stepped out towards the trio. “What a drag. You guys are hopeless. My name is Shikamaru Nara. You can call me Shikamaru-sensei. I’ll be your teacher and squad leader,” the man said with a face that could not read as anything except purely bored. “I really did get stuck with the three top knuckleheads, didn’t I? That Naruto owes me big time.”


	3. The Trial of Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the group meets up with Shikamaru, they are given instructions on where to report tomorrow. When they wake up in the morning, however, something is off. Everything is pitch black and they can hear each other despite not being anywhere near each other. The Trial of Shadows has begun.

“Wait a minute, thee Shikamaru Nara?!” Drake said excitedly.  
“The one and only,” Shikamaru replied.  
“Ooooooh boy! Bei and Shiki are gonna be so jealous when I tell them!” Drake said cheerily. It was their dream to get paired together with Shikamaru, the leader of the New Legendary Sannin, as their squad leader. “I knew good things would come from being your friend, Ryder!” Drake slapped Ryder on the back.  
“That’s a lie,” Kiata mumbled.  
“Sensei,” Ryder began, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, but why did we have to meet at this time of night? Right after our battle with Lord Naruto?” he asked.  
“Was it not more fun to meet in the heat of battle? I was able to assess your teamwork this way as well, which needs improvement, but is not horrible,” Shikamaru explained.  
“Hey sensei, you dropped something,” Kiata said as she picked up a small black book. “Twenty -two hundred. Meet the kids. Twenty-three hundred. Go to sleep,” she read aloud.  
“Hey! Give me that!” he shouted.  
“...Thirteen hundred...wake up,” Kiata said very disappointedly.  
Shikamaru snatched the small book from Kiata. “Those are...very confidential notes Kiata,” Shikamaru said.  
“Wait, you wanted to meet tonight because you weren’t even gonna be awake at a decent time for tomorrow? That’s pretty pathetic. Are you sure you’re Shikamaru-sensei?” Drake said with disdain.  
“Don’t get cocky,” Shikamaru said back. “I’m one of the most intelligent leaders you could have been assigned. You could have been assigned Konohamaru-sensei.”  
“Sensei,” Ryder began, “I am honored to have you as my leader.”  
“See this? Respect. You two could learn a thing or two from him,” Shikamaru said with his nose turned up.  
“Showoff,” the two said together.  
“Alright you three, listen up,” Shikamaru instructed. “Aside from the gross allegations as to why I’ve had you all meet tonight as opposed tomorrow, the real reason comes out now. You all need to know about your first mission which will take place tomorrow at promptly 1400 hours.” The three listened intently. “You all will meet back here and will be tested. Before we can go any further, you need to prove that you deserve to be my subordinates. Tomorrow, when you arrive, you will begin my test: The Trial of Shadows.”  
“Alright!” Ryder cheered.  
“We’ve got this easy,” Drake added. “We held our own against Lord Naruto, we can pass some test.”  
Shikamaru began laughing. “You guys call that holding your own? You barely put a scratch on him!” he teased. “If anything, Ryder was the only one who came close to holding his own. You two held him back significantly. I don’t want to put one of you higher than the others, but you two were effortlessly taken out while Ryder was left to fight for himself. However, don’t feel highly of yourself just yet Ryder. You did a good job holding your own against the Hokage, but you failed to protect your allies. I know all I need to about your past, and you are exemplary. That skill comes from being a lone wolf, which obviously will never fly around here. You’ll have to learn to be more of a team player if you all wish to succeed and even pass the Trial of Shadows.”  
“Sensei,” Kiata began, “what exactly is the Trial of Shadows?”  
“More on that tomorrow. After that little scuffle, I know you guys are tired. Get home and get some sleep. You’ll need it.” Everyone arose and began walking back to the village.  
\-------------------------  
Upon reaching the village, Drake and Kiata separated to go home. The paths to the Hyuga and Uchiha sectors of the village flanked the main path to the NAP housing building. “Alright you two, see you tomorrow,” Shikamaru sent the two off. “Ryder, do you mind?”  
“Oh of course!” Ryder and Shikamaru began walking together.  
Shikamaru began looking around as if trying to see if anyone was around. “Alright, I think we’re alone now.”  
“Hm?”  
“Alright Ryder, I’ll level with you. I know all about your past so don’t try to spare me the truth when I ask you questions,” Shikamaru turned serious. Ryder was shocked and had no clue what was happening. “To prove my knowledge, I am aware of Kokuo, Shao Mei, and even Trey, so don’t think I’ve been skimped on the details.”  
Ryder was beyond flustered. Three names he had prayed no one outside of the Hidden Cloud Village would ever know were just casually thrown out as if they were common knowledge. “Wait, how do you know all of that?” Ryder asked stammering. He had never before felt so surprised in his life.  
“Shocked? I’m close friends with Lord Naruto, my best friend is married to a Hidden Cloud native, and I fought alongside Lord Darui in the Fourth Great Ninja War. There isn’t a single bit of information regarding a Hidden Cloud native that can escape me.”  
Ryder regained his composure. “Fine. What do you want to know? I haven’t done anything wrong and I don’t plan to. I just want to live here and carry out my missions.”  
“No one thinks you’re a spy and no one thinks you have any ulterior motives. I found this information on you when I was told that you would be my student. I’d rather not get close to subordinates that I don’t know much about, you understand I’m sure?”  
“Likewise.”  
“Good. Glad we’re on the same page then. Now, I know before I said that I wasn’t going to put you on a higher pedestal than those two, but between you and me, I know exactly how special you are. It’s been a very long time, thirty-two years in fact, since we had such a young jinchuuriki living in these walls.”  
“Sensei, please do not bring that up. I hate talking about it.”  
“That’s quite too bad.”  
“Huh?”  
“It’s a part of you. It’s what makes you who you are, and helps make you as strong as you are. Face it, you’re not getting rid of him any time soon, so you should just embrace it. Maybe not in battle though. When I felt him coming out during our skirmish, I had to shut things down immediately before it got out of your control.”  
“I see.”  
“And to think at the age of seven you had such a powerful sealing technique.”  
“Okay, I get it, you know almost everything about me. Sensei, this is making me very uncomfortable.”  
“That’s your issue. You’re so bottled up, you can’t see the forest for the trees.”  
“What?”  
“You’re so worried about what others will think of you if they found out your secrets that you forget that you have much bigger problems ahead if they don’t find out.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“I’m not cursing you guys with the possibility of ill futures, but if you guys experienced a tragic or dangerous scenario, in a pinch, would you be able to call on it for help without worrying about scaring your teammates? Or worse, without actually scaring your teammates?”  
“I’m not sure I follow, and I don’t want to either,” Ryder said growing irritated.  
“If you were all in battle and victory was a transformation away, or even just being able to save your teammates, would you be able to transform without the shock of it stunning your allies? Would they be able to take it in stride and continue the battle?”  
This surprised Ryder. He had never thought of the possibility that he may need to get his allies accustomed to his tailed beast so that they would be able to use it to their advantage. “You’re right. So what do I do? Just come right out and tell them?” Ryder asked.  
“That is for you to decide. When you trust them enough, you should tell them. It’s not my place to give that information, so it won’t be me. This is your path.”  
“Yeah, you’re right. I have to be the one to tell them because it’s my life. Thanks sensei, you’re really insightful.”  
“Oh, uh. I didn’t mean your path in life to follow. I meant that this road is your path. You know, to get home. You go down that street and I go down this one. We’re separating here,” Shikamaru said nervously.  
“Oh,” Ryder realized, “well, uh, in that case I’ll be going.”  
“Wait.”  
“Yes, sensei?”  
“I still have much more to tell you, but now is not the time. Just know that everything happens for a reason. You coming here, teaming with those two, getting me as your leader. Everything. I’ll make sure you guys are safe from anything that may come in the future, but you absolutely have to get stronger.”  
“Sensei, what’s this all of a sudden?”  
“Nothing much,” Shikamaru returned to his relaxed state, “just giving a bit of obvious advice is all. I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Get plenty of sleep, you’ll need it.”  
Ryder was unsettled. He had heard many stories about Shikamaru and all about how he was very laid back, but his recent serious demeanor seemed out of character. He almost seemed worried. Ryder swept his feelings under the rug and went inside to go to sleep. Upon entering his unit, he noticed Ryoma was gone. Actually gone. Not hidden in a corner or under his bed, gone. “He’s probably just out with his team or at a post graduation party,” he thought to himself. Ryder lay himself down and managed to get some sleep.   
\------------------------  
The next morning, Ryder awoke, but something was off. It was still night time. He was sure he slept for several hours. Anyone would have after the amount of fighting he did yesterday. Despite that, it was still dark out. Pitch black even. “Ryoma?” Ryder called out. There was no answer. Ryder checked his alarm clock and came to the horrid realization that not only was it pitch black outside, he couldn’t see anything at all. He picked up his alarm clock and looked straight at the face, but there was no light coming from it.  
“Ryder? Is that you?” a girl’s voice called out.  
“Kiata?” Ryder said back.  
“Hey, you two!” a boy’s voice shouted. “What’s going on here?”  
“Drake! I don’t know. I went to sleep last night and woke up to this,” Ryder shouted. “Wait, are you guys here in my room?”  
“Funny,” Kiata scoffed. “We’re in my room, I’m holding the laptop I picked up at my desk,” Kiata replied.  
“Well something must be up,” Drake said, “because I’m in my house. I just opened my bedroom door.”  
“What is happening? Everything is so dark,” Kiata said worried.  
“Wait a minute. Darkness. We can communicate. Could this be the Trial of Shadows?” Ryder said.  
“You know, you’re right,” Drake replied. “Kiata, see if your Byakugan can see anything.”  
“Right,” Kiata weaved hand signs and activated her Byakugan. “No, this can’t be. I can’t see anything. Not even you guys!”  
“Damn it,” Drake cursed. “So what are we supposed to do?” Suddenly a small, glowing piece of paper appeared before them all individually. “Hey, are you guys seeing this?”  
“A paper?” Kiata questioned, releasing her Byakugan.  
“Instructions,” Ryder said. “Dear Team 14, Welcome to the Trial of Shadows. This is a test that will prove your ability to work together when unable to conventionally. Nothing is breakable, so smashing your way to the end is impossible. This is a shadow world that I built. You are all still asleep at home, but don’t let that give you comfort. If you get injured here, you will have that injury inflicted on you in the real world. If you die here, you die in the real world too so take caution. Your mission is simply said, but difficult to carry out: You each have a small string in your pocket. They begin vibrating when they are near each other. This is a HyperLink. You can hear each other’s thoughts here clear as day, but the closer you get, the quieter your thoughts. You won’t be able to communicate when you are near, so you’ll have to use your natural teamwork and the vibrating of your HyperLinks to tell who is where and doing what. Find each other and locate the HyperLoom. At the HyperLoom, your HyperLinks will be woven together and you will pass the Trial of Shadows. Be wary, you may come under assault by shadow beasts during your challenge, so try to stay vigilant. Sight is your only weakness here, so utilize your senses to protect yourself. Good luck,” Ryder read aloud.  
“This is crazy! We’re not even prepared,” Drake yelled.  
“Calm down,” Kiata ordered. “This is a simple task. We’ll meet up at the main gate and go from there. Understood?”  
“Sounds good,” Drake replied.  
“Not good,” Ryder put in. “You guys forget, this test was designed for us to work together to meet a goal. The specifics of everything are far too detailed. We can communicate while apart, but we can only tell what each other is doing by using senses and location while near? Not to mention, we’ll all be alone in any combat that happens until we meet up. You guys are also forgetting a crucial detail that I was a fool for not realizing.”  
“That is?” Kiata asked.  
“I am new to this village. Sensei knows that. Last night he walked me home. He talked to me about things. It kept my attention. Next thing I knew, we were at the NAP housing building.”  
“What are you getting at, Ryder?” Kiata said frustrated.  
“I wasn’t able to get a good look at my surroundings. That was my fault and his plan. You guys are going to have to try to help me get to the meeting point.”  
“Shit, sensei got the better of us,” Drake exclaimed angrily. “So what? Do you just wanna feel your way around and tell us what you’re feeling?”  
“I think that’s best,” Kiata said.  
Kiata and Drake began carefully making their way to the center of town. Leaving their homes, taking paths they memorized. They passed stores and neighbors, making sure to keep their senses alert. Ryder described to them the plants and textures he felt as he very slowly made his way out of the NAP building and down the road. Suddenly, Drake felt a faint rumbling in his pocket. “Oh yea, I never even took this out,” Drake reached into his pocket and pulled out a bright, glowing string. “Woah! Guys! Take out your HyperLinks!” Drake shouted.  
“Hey! This is pretty nice!” Kiata said surprised. It was a beautiful, glimmering rope colored gold. Despite it’s shimmer, though, it did not illuminate the world around them. It was like a white string on a black piece of paper. “Guys, wrap these around your wrist so it will be easier to tell when they are vibrating,” she suggested.  
“Kiata, where are you right now?’ Drake asked.  
“Huh? Drake is that you?” Kiata asked.  
“What?” Drake replied.  
“You guys must be close,” Ryder said.  
“What do you mean?” Drake questioned.  
“Oh, that’s right,” Kiata realized. “The closer you are the harder it is to communicate with words.”  
“Wait, I have an idea!” Ryder exclaimed. “You two work together to meet with me, then one of you can run ahead enough that you aren’t near us. Then when who I am with and I communicate, the person who has run ahead can relay what was said to the other person!”  
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea! Good shit, Ry!...Der. Ryder, is what I said,” Drake said embarrassed.  
“Wow, sensei really has an eye for detail. He even put in a large reptile statue. It feels so real. Guys, I think I’m passing a reptile shop,” Ryder said.  
“Ryder get out of there!” Kiata yelled.  
“Huh?”  
“We don’t have a reptile shop!” Drake said back.  
Ryder quickly jumped away. What he thought was a statue began to move. He felt a rush of wind with bits of saliva hit his face. “Is it roaring at me? Why can’t I hear it?” He thought. Ryder sensed a large claw coming from his right. He jumped. “Wind style! Vacuum cutter!” Sharp wind ravaged the beast. Ryder could only tell by the feel of wind rushing past him and the feeling of his chakra being sapped from him. More than normal even. Ryder could tell that the attack landed due to the lack of murderous intent he felt. The beast was defeated almost too easily.  
“Ryder are you ok?” Kiata asked.  
“I’m fine. I feel so tired though.”  
“After just that? You’re not already losing your edge are you?” Drake teased.  
“Hey, you two. Stomp on the ground. Snap your fingers. Make some noise!”  
“What? Why? Are you ok?” Drake asked him.  
“Just do it!”  
“Okay, okay,” Drake said reluctantly. They began to do as he said, and soon realized why he had such worry in his voice. “Woah no way. Are you serious?”  
“We can’t hear either? This makes no sense though. How can we hear each other?” Kiata wondered.  
“Come to think of it. I can’t smell or taste either,“ Ryder said.  
“What the hell man? All we can do is feel?” Drake yelled.  
“I don’t even think we can feel, Drake,” Ryder said. “Remember, sensei said we’re all still asleep and that this world is a subconscious state he has us in. Not unlike a dream.”  
“Well if it’s a dream,” Drake said, “we should be able to do what we want.”  
“Not quite,” Kiata interrupted. “Remember, this is less a dream and more a state in our psyche. This is Shikamaru-sensei’s world. Similar rules to the real world. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was keeping tabs on us even now. Ryder, I’m with Drake now. I can’t hear him even as a mumble. I can sense him right next to me. Where are you?”  
“I kept down the path you guys told me to and arrived at the corner of some buildings. I think I’m at an intersection.”  
“Good, you must be straight ahead,” Drake said. “Stay there, we’re coming to get you. Kiata will run ahead and be our scout and translator. You and I will muscle through from the back. Sound good?”  
“I’ll be waiting,” Ryder affirmed.  
\---------------------------  
The two finally reached the mentioned intersection. Ryder’s HyperLink began vibrating violently. “Stop!” Ryder yelled. “If you get too close we won’t be able to communicate.”  
“Right,” Kiata said very quietly. They were already within 50 feet of each other. Ryder’s voice was already barely reaching them. Kiata began to run ahead. Suddenly, a young man appeared between everyone. He had black hair pulled up into a ponytail, a green vest over a beige shirt and black pants. “Huh?”  
“You guys met up in record time,” he said. “I was expecting more strife, but I can’t just let the good work go unnoticed. You guys are definitely worthy.”  
“Who are you?” Ryder shouted.  
“I’m offended you’d ask. Can’t you tell? It’s me, Shikamaru, he said.  
“No way, you look so young though,” Kiata said in disbelief.   
“This is my world. I set up a younger version of myself to act as your final obstacle here. Truly, I’m surprised you took down my shadow dragon so easily. I guess I underestimated you all. That was very anti-climatic, but that’s ok. I’m here now to make sure you don’t finish this test,” he explained.  
“You didn’t say this was part of the test,” Drake complained.  
“Sure I did. I told you to be wary of shadow beasts. This form is merely a shadow beast I set up as an obstacle. The three of you could never stand a chance against me even with the best teamwork known to man, but at least it would be a fair fight against my younger self. Be warned, though, this is me after the Fourth Great Ninja War, so I won’t be easy. In fact, I still believe you all will lose. Remember, you won’t be able to communicate anymore while you’re this close, and don’t get any funny ideas about hiding from me. You may not be able to see each other, but I can most certainly see all of you,” he said.  
“How are we supposed to win if we can only tell where each other are by the vibration of our HyperLinks? We can’t even tell who is near us, only that someone is,” Drake said. His voice was weak and low due to being so close to the others.  
“Be careful when using ninjutsu,” Ryder tried to say. “I think we have a low chakra pool since we’re only a conscious and not actually here.”  
“We’re supposed to beat sensei under these conditions? This isn’t possible,” Kiata said.  
“We’ve gotta try, or else he’ll flunk us back to the academy,” Drake said determined. Drake began weaving hand signs. “Fire Style!” he sucked in a large amount of air “Fireball Jutsu!” Drake felt a large mass of heat leave his mouth, but of course he saw nothing. Shikamaru causally stepped to the side and made a throwing motion towards Drake. “He threw something?” Drake thought. He dove to the side. He was then struck in the side by three sharp objects. “Multiple kunai?” Drake fell to the floor. “Kiata! Ryder! Run! We can’t win if we can’t communicate. We have to divide and conquer.” His words fell on empty ears. He noticed his HyperLink was vibrating severely. He felt someone patting his body. He reached up and touched their face. “Kiata?” He said, “Are you getting fresh with me in this dangerous time?”  
“I definitely am not,” Kiata said barely audible but relatively clear.  
“Wait you can hear me? Then that means…” Drake pushed the person away from him. “Ryder! What the hell are you doing?”  
“He’s trying to remove those kunai from you,” Kiata relayed to Drake for Ryder.  
“We don’t have time for that. Defend yourself moron!” Drake shouted. Shikamaru began weaving signs.   
“What’s this feeling?” Ryder thought.  
“Those signs...Kiata! Make Ryder move!”  
“Ryder, watch out!”  
“Damn it, too slow,” Drake brought his foot back and kicked Ryder full force. Ryder flew several meters away until he could faintly hear Drake’s voice. “Ryder run! He’s using shadow possession! If he catches you, we’re all finished!”  
Ryder began to run blindly away from Shikamaru leaping high when he sensed walls or obstacles. “I can’t tell where his shadows are. Are you guys ok?” Ryder asked.  
“I can’t move! Drake?” Kiata shouted.  
“Ryder, dive left now! Then keep running!” Drake yelled.  
Ryder obeyed and kept running. “Wait, how did you know where his shadow was?”  
“My dad didn’t pass on just good looks. I have a Sharingan remember? While copying sensei, I can tell where he’s sending his shadows. Luckily for us though, he already caught Kiata, so I know what’s coming for me and you.”  
“Ah, sharingan, huh? Did it account for this though?” Shikamaru hurled a shuriken at Drake. As he ducked beneath it, a shadow that was stretching from it connecting it and Shikamaru passed over Drake. He was captured.  
“No!” Drake yelled. “Ryder he got me! He’s gonna make me deactivate my sharingan! Go find that loom!”  
“I can’t leave you guys!”  
“Just go!”  
Suddenly Ryder stopped in place and jumped as high as he could. “Wind style! Great Tornado!” Ryder was lifted much higher into the air. High enough that his shadow vanished. “Where is that loom?” he wondered. He couldn’t see anything resembling their target. “Wait, HyperLinks? Hyper Loom? What did the note say? Hyper...LOOM? It’s not an object!” He realized. “Guys, we’re not looking for an object or place. LOOM is an acronym for something. The way it was spelled suggested that.”  
“Great work. What do we do with this information?” Drake asked sarcastically.  
“I don’t know,” Ryder responded disappointedly.  
“Don’t think you can get away by staying in the air. Wind is a dangerous element around explosives,” Shikamaru said tossing a bomb ball to the base of the tornado. The bomb was sucked up and began to rocket towards the top. Towards Ryder.  
“Ryder look out!” Kiata yelled.  
It was too late. The bomb exploded at the top knocking Ryder off the top and towards the ground. “Ryder no! He’s going to catch you in his shadow! If he gets you too it’s all over!” Drake shouted.  
Ryder focused on the ground. “It’s all or nothing,” he said. “I think I get it now. Do you guys trust me? I have a plan.”  
“What?” Drake said confused.  
“Do you guys trust me?” Ryder shouted very seriously.  
“Yes,” Kiata shouted. “I always have! Do it!”  
“You always have a crazy ass plan, but it seems to work out everytime. I trust you,” Drake said sincerely.  
“Good,” Ryder said. He began weaving hand signs. “Limbo!” he shouted.  
“What?!” everyone shouted in surprise.  
Ryder then landed on his feet and ceased movement.  
“No! Ryder got caught!” Drake said. “You idiot! Why would you try to use my dad’s jutsu? You don’t have a rinnegan!”  
“I thought you said you trusted me,” Ryder said slyly.  
“I don’t know what you guys are going on about, but it’s over. You failed,” Shikamaru said disappointedly. “How clueless do you think I am? I know only Sasuke can use Limbo. Your attempt to fool me has fallen flat.”  
“Don’t be so sure, sensei,” Ryder said snarkily. Then, Drake and Kiata felt a slight tug on their arms. Something was pulling their HyperLinks.  
“Could this be?” Kiata asked.   
“Huh?” Shikamaru looked around and saw the HyperLinks around Drake and Kiata’s wrists being pulled by nothing. “No, it can’t be. Limbo?” Suddenly, as if struck by a fist made of iron, Shikamaru was hit in the face by an invisible force so hard that he fell over. Ryder was able to get loose from the shadow possession and backed away quickly. The HyperLinks around the other two’s wrists slipped off and began hovering towards Ryder. He grabbed the strings and held them in his hand.  
“I think I figured it out you guys,” Ryder began. “This entire exam was about getting us to rely on each other. It was about teamwork sure, but was primarily about trusting each other. I don’t know what these strings are for, but they’ve been holding us back.”  
“What do you-?” Drake said confused. Drake and Kiata saw their strings being woven together. A small lighter from Shikamaru’s pocket floated out and towards Ryder. The lighter was struck and held beneath the woven strings.  
“Wait, are you-?” Kiata started.  
“The HyperLinks we need aren’t these strings. In fact, these were here to distract us from our true goal,” Ryder lit the strings on fire.  
“Wait, What are you doing!?” Drake yelled.  
“Damn, I thought I had you guys,” Shikamaru said sitting up.  
As the strings burned to the end, the three began to appear in each other’s view. “What’s going on?” Kiata asked confused.  
“You guys placed your trust in me. The ultimate form of teamwork is trust. This test was never to see how strong we were or even how strong we were as a team, but how well we trusted each other. You two trust each other enough as is, but the only thing we were missing was my trust in you two and vice versa. I grew to trust you guys when you helped me make my way here and how you helped direct me during that battle. All that was left was to ascertain your trust in me. Once that happened, we completed the trial. Is that right sensei?” Ryder asked.  
“More or less. I'll fill you guys in more when you wake up. Don’t be scared when you notice some things are different when you wake up. Just make your way to the Nara Clan Forest at 1400 hours like I told you to before and I’ll explain further. When you wake up, eat something and sit down for a while. Don’t stand too fast. Trust me. See ya,” Shikamaru vanished into the shadows. Suddenly, the world around them began shaking. Overhead they heard a voice. “Oh yeah, the transition back to reality is gonna be disorienting if you don’t close your eyes. So I’d do that.”  
The three closed their eyes and then the rumbling stopped. Ryder opened his eyes again and found himself lying in his bed. He searched around for Ryoma but saw no one. The sun was shining through the window. He looked at his digital clock frantically. Eight o’clock in the morning. “Huh? But we were in there for so long,” he thought.  
“Who is that?! Get out of my head!” a voice rang loudly in Ryder’s head.  
“Ahhh! What the-?” Ryder shouted.  
“Would you two be quiet? You’re giving me a headache,” another voice said in Ryder’s head.  
“Wait. Drake? And Kiata too?” Ryder questioned.  
“Who else would you be hearing’s thoughts?” Kiata said irritated. “Did you think sensei set up that trial for fun? He set something up so we’d be able to communicate the same way we did in the test. It’s how the Ino-shika-Cho combinations communicate,” she explained. “For now, let’s just follow sensei’s instructions and relax for a bit, then we’ll go let him explain the rest later. I just wonder if there’s an off switch for this.” Kiata sat waiting for a reply, but no one was on the other end anymore. Ryder and Drake had already figured out how to tune out of their HyperLink and shut Kiata off immediately after. “You assholes are gonna get it!” she shouted.  
\------------------------------------  
“Lord Naruto, please. Reassign those kids,” Kiba begged. “No ill words on Shikamaru, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. Shikamaru is too tough for them. They probably won’t even pass his introductory, let alone survive under his tutelage. Please, reconsider. Especially since one of the students is here under conditions and needs to be protected.”  
“All the more reason he needs to be with Shikamaru,” Sasuke chimed in.  
“No! Shikamaru is going to tear those kids apart,” Kiba argued.  
“I’m not so sure Kiba,” Naruto started. “Ryder is pretty strong. Drake and Kiata too. I should know. I fought them.”  
“One battle does not equal cut out for a period of hell!” Kiba raised his voice.  
“Lord Naruto?” Shikamaru opened the door to the office and peered in.  
“Shikamaru. Come in,” Naruto gestured.  
“I’m only reporting in. I’ll be headed back home to get some extra sleep after this, but I have some bad news.”  
“Oh no,” Kiba muttered.  
“I put those three through the trial of shadows last night, and I’m sorry,” Shikamaru said.  
“Oh no!” Kiba groaned worriedly. “I told you, Naruto-”  
“I won’t be able to be your assistant anymore,” Shikamaru cut Kiba off.  
“Huh?” Kiba said confused.  
“Looks like you finally found me some subordinates worth a damn. They passed and in record time. Now I look like a lazy instructor. This is such a drag,” he grumbled.  
“Glad to hear it,” Naruto said with a smile. “See Kiba? Nothing to worry about.”  
“Shikamaru getting bested by a handful of brats? You’ve lost your edge old man,” Sasuke teased.  
“They were up against post war me alright? I wasn’t exactly at my best, but I won’t discredit them they were tough. Sasuke, did you teach Ryder any techniques in the time he was with you?” Shikamaru asked.  
“Hm? No, I didn’t. Why do you ask?”  
“That kid. He’s either a number one prankster like our Hokage here, or he’s got more potential than any of us give him credit for.”  
“Shikamaru, what’s up?” Naruto questioned.  
“During the test, right before I captured Ryder, he used, or at least I thought he used, limbo,” Shikamaru stated.  
“What?” Naruto stood up surprised.  
Sasuke began laughing uncontrollably. “You know? Maybe Kiba’s right. We should get these kids a new professor. Maybe someone who wouldn’t be so easily fooled by a trick like that,” he kept laughing.  
“What do you mean?” Kiba inquired.  
“Limbo is a technique only a rinnegan user can use. For a long time, I was unable to use it as well. I worked out some of the kinks and figured it out after almost twenty years. I know he’s a fast learner, but it’s literally impossible for him to use limbo,” Sasuke explained.  
“Then what did he do?” Naruto asked, sitting back down.  
“Shikamaru, what were the hand signs he used?”  
“Hare and Bird,” Shikamaru said.  
This made Sasuke laugh even harder, even falling to the floor unable to contain himself. Naruto, hearing this and unable to contain it, began laughing along side Sasuke. “I don’t get it, what’s so funny?” Kiba questioned.  
Shikamaru sighed, “Ya know. Thinking now, it is kinda funny. I really got fooled, didn’t I?”  
“Someone tell me what’s going on!” Kiba demanded.  
“Ryder didn’t use limbo,” Naruto began. “He said limbo in order to try to fool Shikamaru. If he thought he was going to come under assault by the Limbo Border Jail, Shikamaru would lift the shadow possession and defend himself, but Shikamaru knows better than to believe a stupid bluff like that, so he didn’t drop the jutsu. That was his undoing when he got hit by something though. Ryder might have said limbo, but he used Wind Style: Tempest Clones. Unable to be seen by the naked eye, Shikamaru then thought he really was attacked by Limbo Border Jail. The goal was never to throw Shikamaru off, but instead to make him think he’s safe and actually attack him,” Naruto explained.  
“It’s so stupid!” Sasuke said through tears of laughter. “That’s something only you would do. You really know how to pick them,”  
“You forget, I trained that boy for 5 years. I wouldn;t be surprised if he picked up alot of my habits,” Naruto said. “Whoo, Shikamaru. Thank you for that laugh. I really needed that, but I’m glad to hear they passed your exam.”  
“Yeah, me too. That’s an interesting group of kids. That said, again, I won’t be able to be your assistant anymore since I’ll be a full time instructor. Naruto. Sasuke. I take my leave. Kiba, I leave all my remaining paperwork to you,” Shikamaru sank into his shadow on the ground and disappeared.  
“Wait, what?!” Kiba shouted.  
“Naruto,” Sasuke started, “if it’s okay with you, I would like to comonitor Ryder’s progress alongside Shikamaru.”  
“Oh? What for?”  
“We joked about him fooling Shikamaru with that limbo trick, but the truth of the matter is that while he cannot use Limbo, he can most definitely see it. That kid is going to grow into something special. Probably even into something that becomes out of Shikamaru’s hands alone to deal with. With your permission, I’ll then acquire Shikamaru’s permission. I won’t take on a teaching role, but he will probably end up training with me more often than he would otherwise. I can map out a schedule with Shikamaru pending approval.”  
“Ill sus through the details, but my final decision is unknown. I don’t want him getting more powerful than his allies. Perhaps if you took an interest in the three of them equally then perhaps, but it would ultimately be up to Shikamaru.”  
“Understood. I’ll take my leave then,” Sasuke said leaving the room.  
“Naruto, is this all ok? I mean so many things seem odd about a lot of this,” Kiba said concernedly.  
“It’ll be fine. So long as everyone keeps playing their part, nothing will fall out of place. I swear.”  
\--------------------------------  
The three approached a clearing in the Nara Clan Forest. The first thing they noticed was a hollowed log with the top carved out like a tiny bed with walls, almost like it was placed there intentionally since there was no tree nearby for it to have naturally fallen into place. The three approached it and were surprised. That is to say, they were not surprised in the slightest at their discovery. In the log lay Shikamaru, sound asleep on his back as if he had fallen asleep watching the clouds.  
“At this point, I would only be surprised if he was alert and waiting for us,” Kiata said with a sigh.  
“Let’s pull a fast one on him,” Drake suggested.  
“I wouldn’t do that,” a voice said from behind them. “If you shock him out of this sleep, you might not survive. He doesn’t joke about his day naps.” The large man approached the group.  
“Who might you be?” Kiata asked politely.  
Ryder ran towards the man with a large smile and open arms. “Choji-sensei!” Ryder shouted. He ran up and hugged the large man.  
“Wait, this is Choji Akimichi-sensei?” Drake said confused.  
“Yes. He works for the Sand Village, but he visits the Cloud Village often. He taught a lot of us in the academy during his visits,” Ryder explained.  
“Good to see you again, Ryder! I see you got that transfer they were telling you about. How are you liking it here?”  
“I’m enjoying it. We passed Shikamaru-sensei’s test this morning, so we gathered here for our next orders.”  
“Yeah, I heard. That’s what we’re all here for today,” Choji said.  
“All?” Drake questioned.  
Suddenly, a woman began approaching. It was Ino. “Hello you three,” Ino said with a smile.  
“Ino-sensei too?” Kiata said surprised. “What’s the occasion?”  
“Finally, everyone’s here. You all kept me waiting long enough,” Shikamaru said rising up from his log.  
“I refuse to believe you were doing anything other than napping,” Kiata said disappointedly.  
“Alright enough joking around,” Shikamaru said. “You guys have made some pretty impressive moves as individuals, but I won’t lie. Your teamwork is less than third-rate.”  
“What?” Drake shouted. “Have you seen the level of teamwork we work at? Did you see us against the Hokage?”  
“I did. You lost.”  
“Well, what about when we fought you?” Drake argued.  
“I was there. You lost,”  
“Drake stop,” Kiata shot a glance at him.  
“We passed the Trial of Shadows,” Drake said with a high attitude.  
“If that was based on grade and not achievement, you definitely would have failed. Both Kiata and yourself got caught. You passed due to Ryder’s quick thinking and skill. In fact, during your fight against Naruto, Ryder was the last man standing, and during your scuffle with me, I only scrapped it because Ryder was having an issue,” Shikamaru glanced at Ryder so as to affirm his promise that he wouldn’t be the one to talk about Ryder’s secrets. “Ryder’s skill known, it still hasn’t been enough. Even with his abilities, you still have never won a battle as a team. That is not only concerning if you’re going to be a squad, it’s a disappointment to a teacher who is a part of one of the most cohesive teams in all of history. Which brings me to the first real point of gathering you here. I’m sure you all noticed when you woke up that you could all hear each other in your minds, and I hope you are all smart enough to realize that the Trial of Shadows was a lot more than just some test I put you through.”  
“Yeah, what was that about?” Kiata questioned.  
“I entered all of your homes while you were asleep last night. The purpose of our little fight was to tire you out, but due to reasons, it was cut short. I was worried one of you would wake up during, so I had to be careful, but then I remembered your fight with Naruto, so I figured the events of the whole day would have made you tired, and I was right. I entered all of your homes in the middle of the night. I then set up HyperLinks in all of you,” Shikamaru went on. “HyperLinks are little transmitters that, once connected, allow you to transmit your thoughts to other HyperLinks you are connected to. Setting them up, however, was just the easy part. Putting together a neurotransmitting network is elementary. Once you were all good to go, the rest was up to you.”  
“The Trial of Shadows,” Ryder realized.  
“Exactly. HyperLinks won’t even connect to each other unless something is done about them. First, they are connected to two or three or however many people’s brains. Then, when the brain and hearts are truly connected between any two people with HyperLinks, the link is established and you become totally in sync. You can then sense each other’s thoughts, movements, and even can tap into each other’s incoming knowledge. You could even allow others to sense what you are sensing at any point. If you’re on a reconnaissance mission, Ryder could share what he’s seeing and hearing with you two. Distance doesn’t matter either. You could be on opposite sides of the world and it would still work.”  
“Woah, this is the kind of technology we’re developing now? What a time to be alive,” Kiata said in amazement.  
“Not exactly,” Ino cut in. “This is technology that the clans of Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi have developed in secret. With approval of Naruto, we developed this technology to enhance the teamwork of our three clans. No, the teamwork between us three.”  
“The successful development of this technology is what named us the strongest team in history,” Choji added.  
“Wait, you guys developed one of the most innovative technologies in history, and you convinced Lord Naruto to let you keep it between your clans?” Ryder questioned.  
“I’ll get there,” Shikamaru answered. “Yes, it’s true. It’s insane that this kind of invention was kept so tightly kept and away from the public, but it makes sense. This kind of tech isn;t just for anybody. Only those who truly trust each other can even connect in the first place. On top of that, you have to be using the HyperLink to set up the connection, and I don’t think anyone aside from me can use Shadow Realm: Dark Dreamland.”  
“What’s that?” Drake asked, genuinely interested.  
“It’s a Shadow Possession style genjutsu. I enshroud the brain in darkness, forcing a conscious to enter a dark world of my design. Furthermore, I can link multiple consciouses together to make them all experience the same world. Of course, without a HyperLink, the minds can only verbally communicate, but when they approach one another, communication becomes impossible. You simply can’t approach another’s consciousness. By linking minds together using this jutsu, the HyperLinks are booted up and wait for a connection to be established.”  
“Trust building,” Kiata said.  
“Exactly,” Shikamaru affirmed. “HyperLinks first activate when two consciouses link together, but don't establish until a true bond between both people’s heart and mind is formed. Once it is, you then become able to see, hear, and sense those you’re linked with. That’s why you all became able to see and clearly hear each other in the end. This would all be very difficult to accomplish without my jutsu, so Naruto allowed us to keep it hush because there would be no point of it being public knowledge and no one be able to use it once I die.”  
“That actually makes perfect sense,” Ryder said.  
“I was going to set it up for our kids, but I figured it was better suited for you guys, since your teamwork was abysmal.”  
“So we wrapped back around to you insulting us,” Kiata said irritated.  
“One day I’ll have to teach the jutsu to Shikana, but for now we’re going to have you three test it so we can monitor how it works outside of ourselves. Which brings me to my next point: Why we are all gathered here.”  
“Oh no,” Kiata groaned, “we have to fight you three now don’t we?”  
The three laughed. “Oh no definitely not!” Choji said through tears. “You three could never hope to defeat the three of us. We were a force to be reckoned with before, but with our HyperLink, not even the Five Kage could defeat us. We could take over the world you know?” he teased.  
“Stop it you!” Ino snapped. “Honestly, trying to scare kids.”  
“I’ve invited these two because you guys are going to spend the rest of the day and the next few days alone with us, rotating, of course, who you spend time with. Your links will be shut off during these one-on-ones and your ability to work together and feed off of each other’s knowledge on the fly will be tested at the end of each day with a series of training evaluations and missions, officialized, by the way, by Naruto himself. Yes, we’re beginning missions starting tomorrow so be ready. There will be no training or anything today since you already had the Trial of Shadows today, but there will be one-on-one time. We all can tell if your HyperLinks are on by the way, so they are to be off at all times unless you are all physically in each other’s presence. No prior preparation is allowed. Your team strength is very good, but teamwork is horrific. We’re going to change that before we think about doing anything regarding ranking up or the chunin exams. We’ll break for today. Kiata, you’ll go with Choji, Drake is with me. Ryder, you’ll be with Ino for today. Every morning at 1500 hours, we’ll meet here to group with you up with us and we’ll all go from there.”  
“Wait, did he just say 1500 hours? In the ‘morning’? What kind of lazy instructor did we get paired with?” Kiata said disappointedly to herself.  
“Alright, everyone break off and have fun and learn. Today will be less about practice and more about learning how your HyperLinks work. Again, keep them off until we reconvene,” Shikamaru instructed. The trio were excited. A brand new world had just opened to them. It was as if fate wanted them in a certain place in their lives and they were reaching that point effortlessly. Ryder, knowing he could get much stronger alongside Drake and Kiata, left the clearing with Ino with a long list of things he was prepared to ask her.   
\------------------------------  
The day quickly went on and eventually came to a close. After regrouping, the trio said their goodbyes to their elders and went home. They had learned how to turn their links on and off, and how to convey different types of information and senses to each other. They played around with these during their walk home.  
“Alright, well we split here,” Kiata said when they entered the village. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”  
“Hey, Ryder,” Drake said, “I’ll walk you home.”  
“Oh, ok!” Ryder agreed. The two walked towards the NAP quarters. “Hey, your link is off right?”  
“Yes. Why?”  
“Good, I wanna talk to you in private.”  
“About what? Are you planning to bully me again?”  
“No, and I’m sorry you think that way. It’s the opposite actually. Despite what I thought when I first met you and had interactions with you, you’ve been a huge help to me since we met. I’ve been a lot less angry and so many opportunities have now been open to me. You’re actually not bad as a guy. You’re actually good for me, too.”  
“Well I’m glad you feel that way.”  
“I know in time we’ll be really close,” Drake said turning red.  
“Drake, you’re getting flushed.”  
“Shut up, idiot! Just bring it in already,” Drake opened his arms motioning for Ryder to hug him while looking away, red as a beet.  
“Oh!” Ryder said shocked. “Um, ok,” Ryder moved in and hugged Drake back.  
“Don’t tell Kiata about this ever,” Drake demanded.  
“I understand,” Ryder said back. Suddenly, Ryder’s left chest began to make a sizzling noise and steam began to escape his robes from that area. A small thud struck Drake in his chest.  
“What the-” Drake shouted. “Ryder, what was that?” Drake reached for Ryder’s robes.  
“No, dont-” Ryder started but was too late to react. Drake had opened Ryder’s robes enough to reveal a large burn scar in the shape of the kanji for the word ‘horse’. It was glowing a slight white while steam rose off it as if it was currently being branded onto his chest.  
“Ryder, what the hell is this!?” Drake said in a mix of horror and anger.  
“Drake, I can explain,” Ryder began.


	4. Reconnaissance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a few days of training, Team 14 is finally given a real mission. A simple staking out and info gathering mission is assigned, but this mission has very high stakes. Can the explosive personalities of Team 14 quell their fiery spirits long enough to be actual spies? Or will their love for conflict dig them a hole too deep to climb out of?

Around a week had passed. Ryder, Kiata, and Drake had shuffled around their teachers a couple times each, learning new ways to communicate, how to use their HyperLinks, and lots of general knowledge. At the end of their one-on-one days, they did a variety of things from team drills, to D and C-rank missions, which kept them busy and earning a small income. It had been six days since the hug accident between Ryder and Drake.  
“Alright you guys, we’re gonna wrap it up for today. You guys are doing great. Say your good-byes to Ino and Choji. They’re going back home tonight and we’ll begin as a four man cell from tomorrow on. Speaking of tomorrow, we’ll be leaving for a mission around 0900 hours, so be awake, packed, and ready to go at the east gate. Hokage Naruto will meet us there to debrief us on the details, but he doesn’t want anyone to know about it so we’re going in secret. We’ll be gone for upwards to five days, so prepare accordingly,” Shikamaru instructed.  
“You mean you’ll be up and ready to go at 0900 sensei? Are we seeing growth?” Drake snickered. The three said their goodbyes to Ino and Choji and began gathering their things to head home. The air was tense between Drake and Ryder.  
“Hey, Ryder. Will you walk me home?” Kiata asked.  
“Yeah, sure,” Ryder replied. He had spent the last week learning the topography and layout of the village. He could roam on his own and still know how to get back home at this point.  
“You love birds behave now,” Drake teased Kiata. He then shot Ryder an annoyed glance and went back to gathering his things.  
“You start on,” Ryder said to Kiata. “I need to talk to Drake.”  
“Sure thing,” she replied smiling.  
Ryder jogged over to Drake. Drake glanced up to see this and then looked back down at his tool pouch. “I don’t know what you want, but you’d better go catch up to Kiata before you lose her,” he said to Ryder irritated.  
“Drake, come on. I know you’re mad at me. I just wanna talk,”  
“About what?” Drake said reaching the first visible stages of frustration. “I wanted you to talk a week ago and you kept acting like it was a huge secret. Not thirty seconds after I told you I saw a great future ahead for us, you tell me you can’t tell me about some secret. That hurts, Ryder. More than you know. I have to finish packing up now. My dad is making dinner and I want to get some sleep before we go on this mission tomorrow. You should get Kiata home, and then yourself,” Drake said counting his weapons.  
Ryder felt awful. Drake was right. Drake had cast his pride and manliness aside to tell Ryder that they would have a bright future ahead as comrades, only for himself to turn around and keep secrets from his teammate. Ryder did not have the courage, however, to tell this personal and scary information to his teammates.  
“What’s going on over here?” Shikamaru approached the boys.  
“Ryder was just telling me that I did a good job today. Now he’s leaving to walk Kiata home. Isn’t that right, Ryder?” Drake nudged.  
“Yeah…” Ryder said downcast.  
“Everything alright Ryder?” Shikamaru asked.  
“Yeah, I’m fine. I should get going,” Ryder said, now turning around and heading towards Kiata who was waiting at the forest clearing to head back to the village. Shikamaru and Drake watched as he walked away.  
“I’ll ask again,” Shikamaru started, “is everything alright?”  
“It’s fine sensei,” Drake responded. “I’m just surprised our HyperLink ever connected if he doesn’t really trust me,” he said standing up and adjusting his pack on his back.  
“Look Drake, he’s got a lot he’s going through right now. He’s gonna let you guys in, but you gotta give him time alright?” Shikamaru put his hand on Drake’s shoulder.  
“Oh, I see! He was fine telling you but not his best frie- I mean, team mate?” Drake bit his tongue.  
“Best friend, huh? Strong words. Do you really feel that way?” Shikamaru said sympathetically.  
“Ah forget it. You wouldn’t understand. I’m outta here. See you tomorrow sensei,” Drake said annoyed.  
“Sure thing, kid.”  
\------------------------------  
“Hey, Ryder. What was that all about today?” Kiata asked. “You two were completely distracted and it threw our whole formation off.”  
“It’s nothing. He’s mad at me and it’s my fault,” Ryder said gloomily.  
“Because of the thing with your chest right?”  
“He told you?”  
“Of course he did, but it didn’t matter until now when it began to get in the way of our teamwork. See the difference between Drake and myself is that I can think things through more than he can. I know it’s not that you don’t trust us, if you didn’t we would have never passed the Trial of Shadows. Some things are personal, you can’t just share everything with anyone,” she went on. “Of course, I would hope that in time you will tell us more about yourself, but for now I don’t think about it too much. Drake, however, is a different story. He has a very surface level way of thinking. He always has. All he knows is, ‘HyperLink means we trust each other. Tell me your secrets!” Kiata said in a voice making fun of Drake.  
Ryder chuckled. “I know, but this isn't just something I can tell just anyone about. In fact, I’m flat out not allowed to. Lord Naruto and cousin Darui said so,”  
“Oh, well in that case it can’t be helped,” Kiata said understandingly. “Don’t you think that being on the same squad though that we might accidentally find out anyways? Don’t you think it might hurt our teamwork and friendship if we found out something big that you thought you should keep from us?”  
“Yeah, Shikamaru-sensei said the same thing.”  
“Well, I know you trust us. I know in time you’ll say ‘screw the rules’ and tell us anyway, and I’ll be waiting for you to get there,” she said with a smile.  
“Thanks, Kiata. That means a lot,” Ryder said smiling.  
“Anytime,” she said coming to a stop. “Alright, well this is my home. Thank you for walking me home.”  
“Why did you need me to walk you home though? It’s still daylight out?” Ryder questioned, obviously oblivious to Kiata’s intentions.  
“Geez, boys can be so dense. Whatever, I enjoyed our walk nonetheless. I’ll see you in the morning. Goodbye,” Kiata walked up the few stairs and entered her home, leaving Ryder outside.  
“At least, I know how to get home from here,” he thought. He turned around to leave and was met face to face with Bei Ten. “Oh! Bei Ten! How’s it going?”  
“Ryder! Interesting seeing you. What brings you to the Hyuga Estate?” he asked.  
“I was just walking Kiata home. I’ll be heading home soon since we have a mission in the morning. What about you?”  
“My family is a distant cousin of the Hyuga. Very distant. I don’t even believe we share the same blood at this point. That aside, I train with Kiata and her mother from time to time. I cannot use their Byakugan, but training against it helps give me insight to my own fighting style.”  
“I see. Alright well try to take it easy on her! We’ll be gone for five days starting tomorrow and I want her in top form!” Ryder said as he began his walk home.  
“I’ll do my best,” Bei Ten assured him.  
\--------------------------------  
“Dad, I’m home,” Drake shouted, walking through the front door. He dropped his pack by the door and kicked his shoes off.  
“Welcome home,” Sasuke said back in the same busy manner Drake was used to. “Dinner is on the stove top. You got home a lot sooner than I expected so you managed to come home to a fresh meal. Lucky you,” he said trying to convey a smile through his words.  
“Where’s mom?”  
“After she finished dinner, we ate, and once I came here to start my work she left to the Hokage mansion. She should be back within the half hour.”  
“Hokage’s mansion? What for?”  
“Our anniversary is coming up. She went to ask Naruto if I could have the day off.”  
“Why didn’t you go?”  
“Don’t you think a busy man like Naruto would only grant a busy man like me time off if all my work was caught up? I asked your mother to go in my stead while I do what I can to get a jump start on my work. Speaking of busy,” he said rolling in his chair to the doorway of his office, “I heard that you guys are going on a mission for a few days tomorrow. You excited?”  
“It’s whatever. It’s basically just a camping trip with my teammates. Or I should say, a teammate and a full-of-himself jerk who can’t trust his own comrades,” Drake said with heavy irritation in his voice.  
“Oh boy, you can’t still be mad at Ryder, Drake. It’s been a week,”  
“Dad, why can’t he just tell me what that thing on his chest was? Better yet, I know you know. Why won’t you tell me?”  
“Okay I’ll tell you.”  
Drake ran into the doorway of Sasuke’s office with huge eyes and a large grin. “Really?! You’ll tell me?”  
“Sure, and after I do, I’ll go tell him all of your secrets you wouldn’t tell anyone, too.”  
“Okay, fine. I get it. It’s his secret to tell, not yours. Whatever. I’m gonna eat and go to bed,” Drake said walking sluggishly to the kitchen.  
“Make sure you pack everything you need before you sleep and set your alarm, too. Even the best of the best fall to their knees-” he was cut off.  
“When met with unpreparedness. I know. I know. Dad please get off my back, it already actually hurts,” Drake found his way to the kitchen and saw the pot of curry on the stove. “What’s the special occasion? Mom get a raise? You get promoted?” His mother only made curry when there was something to be celebrated.  
“It’s Umagi’s birthday,” Sasuke said back. It was evident he had not yet fully moved on past the death of his son, but since it had been a decade at this point, it was not a feeling he was new to.  
“Oh yea,” Drake said, almost ashamed he had forgotten. He grabbed two bowls, scooped rice and curry into each, put lids on them, and headed to the door. “I’ll be back.”  
“Try not to stay out too long this time.”  
\----------------------------  
Ryder kept a slow pace in his walk. He was thinking over a lot of what Kiata had told him. “Maybe I should just tell them. What’s the worst that can happen? Maybe he’ll just say, ‘Wow! That’s cool! That might help us out in a pinch!’ Maybe he’ll say, ‘Ah! Weirdo! I’m telling Lord Naruto to switch my team!’ Geez, why does it have to be so hard?” he said to himself.  
“Why are you talking to yourself?” a voice came from in front of Ryder.  
Ryder shot a look in front of him. It was Drake. “Drake! Uh, what did you hear?”  
“You being weird,” Drake had a backpack unlike his ninja pack.  
“Oh,” Ryder said sorrowfully. “Hey, your bag. Where are you going?”  
“To the cemetery. I usually go with Bei, but he’s busy training, so I’m going alone.”  
“Oh, ok.” Ryder continued walking past Drake with his head down.  
Drake let out a heavy sigh. “Do you wanna come with me?”  
“Huh? I mean, yeah.” Ryder turned around and began walking with Drake. “So why are you going to the cemetery?”  
“It’s my brother’s birthday,” Drake said.  
“Umagi, right?”  
“Yeah, my dad tell you?”  
“I saw a picture on his desk.”  
“I see. Yeah, he died about ten years ago, and every year on his birthday, I have curry with him at his grave. I didn’t know him very well, but I know he cared for me.”  
“I see,” Ryder said, far more downcast than before.  
“We’re here,” Drake said as he sat down in front of a tombstone that read ‘Uchiha Umagi 16/06/11 - 27/03/24’ in engraved letters. Drake took his backpack off and set it on the grass. He pulled out the two bowls of curry and rice and set them on the small stone slab in front of the head stone. He removed one apple scented incense from the bag and stuck it in the little groove on the head stone and lit it with his fingertip. “Apple was always his favorite smell,” he told Ryder. He got down onto his knees, put his hands together, and began to pray silently. Ryder mimicked his motions. After he finished praying, Drake sat down and crossed his legs. He grabbed one bowl of the curry and held it towards Ryder. “Here, obviously Umagi can’t eat, so that’s what you’re here for.”  
“Oh, thank you,” Ryder said. He took the bowl from Drake and sat cross legged as well. “Sorry Bei Ten wasn’t able to join you. I saw him heading to Kiata’s house after I walked her home. He said he had important training to do.”  
“Yeah, I know. He’s gonna be pretty busy from here on out, so I don’t hold it against him.”  
“Wow, this is great! Did Sasuke-sensei make this?”  
“Pffft. Please, the only things my dad can make well are instant ramen, headache medicine, and headaches. My mom cooked this.”  
“I see. You’ll have to tell her it’s very good!” Ryder said with his mouth full.  
“I’ll pass the message on,” Drake paused. “You know, Ryder. This ritual is expressly for my brother, me, and my best friend.”  
“Oh, I understand,” Ryder said upset. “I’m sorry, I’ll be going then,” Ryder was cut off.  
“Sit down, dummy. Obviously, I invited you along. You really always make people say things they’re not comfortable saying? I’m saying, I consider you my new best friend.”  
“What?”  
“Gosh, all that courage it took to tell you that and there are still things you can’t tell me. I guess it’s fine. It could really be life changing so I won’t worry too much about it.”  
“Drake…” Ryder looked down at his bowl of curry. He thought of everything Drake had done for him since his first day in the village. Walking him home after their first fight, teaming up in the graduation duel, everything. “Drake, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before when you asked. I was just scared you wouldn’t want me around anymore if you knew the truth.”  
“What truth? You’re scary strong and unusually composed. I know something is up with you. Finding out what it is will only tie up loose ends,” Drake said.  
“Drake, the reason I have such a strange chakra...the reason I was brought here and the reason we’re with Shikamaru and so much other stuff...his name is Kokuo. I’m the five-tails jinchuuriki.”  
Drake froze. He couldn't say anything. He was stunned beyond belief. “Did...did you just say...you’re a jinchuuriki?”  
“Yeah. He was sealed in me when I was a few months old and I’ve been the five-tailed jinchuuriki ever since. Sorry I kept it from you for so long.”  
“I can’t believe this…” Drake said, turning his head down.  
“Drake, I’m so-”  
“We’ve got a monster on our team!” Drake shouted excitedly.  
“Wha-”  
“Oh! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to say monster. Uh, how about a super strong guy? Is that better?”  
“You’re not mad? Or scared?”  
Drake burst out laughing. “Scared?! You’re kidding! You’re talking to the true strongest ninja of our generation. All this time I was worried you’d hold us back, but really you’re gonna round us out as the best team ever!”  
“I’m so happy you accept me,” Ryder sighed with heavy relief.  
“Hey man, I said it before but I’ll say it with confidence now. I’m glad you trust me with that. We really are gonna be the best of friends, huh?”  
“I think so,” Ryder said smiling.  
“Hey, let’s finish up our curry and I’ll walk you home alright?”  
“Absolutely.”  
\----------------------------------  
The two boys approached the NAP apartments. Slowly. The curry had filled them up so much that they were sluggish and sleepy.  
“Alright. Here’s your stop,” Drake said.  
“Thank you for walking me home again,” Ryder said.  
“No worries. Just wanted to make sure you didn’t get lost. Hey, seriously. I’m glad you told me. It really means a lot. Even Bei never told me how his jutsu works.”  
“I didn’t know that. Well, I’m gonna head inside. I look forward to our mission tomorrow.”  
“Me too. Are you gonna tell Kiata what you told me?” Drake asked.  
“I’ll tell her tomorrow. We should wake up early and walk with her to the gate in the morning!” Ryder said excitedly.  
“Ahhhh let’s not get carried away and do something meaningless,” Drake said with a chuckle.  
“Fine. I’ll walk with her to the gate and I’ll tell her on the way,” Ryder said. “Seriously, I have to get in and get to sleep. That curry is really weighing me down. I’ll see you tomorrow, Drake.”  
“Good night, Ryder. Thank you for celebrating Umagi’s birthday with me,” Drake said walking away.  
“Anytime!” Ryder shouted before stepping inside. He continued through the lobby and up the stairs to his floor. He approached his room, but sensed someone in it. Not Ryoma, much stronger. Not just one person. Three? Ryder twisted his door open and was met face to face with Naruto, Sasuke, and Shikamaru. “Ah!” he yelled. “Hi, you guys. What’s going on?”  
“Ryder,” Sasuke started, “did you tell Drake about Kokuo?”  
“Wow, you guys learn fast,” Ryder replied.  
“Shikamaru overheard you guys at the cemetery on his way there. Ryder we talked about this,” Naruto began.  
“Wait a minute,” Ryder began showing anger, “Shikamaru-sensei, aren’t you the one who suggested I tell them? Am I in trouble for following my squad leader’s suggestion?”  
“No, of course not,” Shikamaru reassured him. “We just want to make sure you’re only telling the people you can absolutely trust.”  
“So then the Trial of Shadows and the HyperLink thing were all a load of crap?” Ryder asked snarkily.  
“Well, no, but-” Sasuke tried to answer.  
“You know, this is all a waste of time. I respect all three of you, but this is pointless. Shikamaru-sensei told me that I should tell my comrades in order to build trust and so we could be on the same page. Lord Naruto, you told me to only tell those I trust. Our HyperLink was connected because they trust me and I them. Therefore, my comrades, whom I trust very much, will be the only people I tell. I’m not a little kid anymore and I wish I could get that recognition. I was chosen to come here partially because of my grades, but also because of whatever this Operation House Party thing is, so I expect to be treated with a little slack since I’m not an idiot,” Ryder said highly irritated.  
“He’s right,” Sasuke added, “Ryder, no one is discrediting your choices here. We just wanted to confirm that you were confident in your decisions. So are you?”  
“Yes sir.”  
“Then we best leave him to rest. You’ve got a big day tomorrow, so get some shut eye. Naruto, I won’t let you sleep in either. You’ll be giving them their debriefing, so make sure you’re resting up too. You’ve got a lot of work to do too,” Sasuke began instructing everyone.  
“I know, I know. Geez, you would think you were the Hokage. Good night, Ryder. Sorry if we upset you,” Naruto apologized. The three took their leave and Ryder lied down.  
Ryoma walked into the room and slumped underneath the bed Ryder was lying on. “I’m too tired. I don’t feel like talking tonight,” he said muffled from beneath Ryder.  
“Okay,” Ryder replied.  
“So, how was your day?” Ryoma said popping his head from underneath the bed. Ryder sighed and began to strike up a conversation with Ryoma.  
\----------------------------------  
Ryder did not realize he had fallen asleep and before he knew it, his 7 AM alarm was going off. He got up from his bed, did a final count of his tools and gear, then took a quick bath. Ryoma was still asleep on the floor, sticking out halfway from beneath Ryder’s bed. He tiptoed around Ryoma’s unconscious body to gather the rest of his things then slipped out of the room. He made his way to Kiata’s house. He spent the entire walk psyching himself up to tell Kiata about Kokuo. Before he knew it, he was standing right outside her front door. He gulped, then began knocking on the strip of wood in the middle of the double doors.  
“Just a minute,” a woman called. A few seconds later, the door slid open and there was a woman standing there. She had long, dark blue hair pulled back into a mid ponytail. She wore a lavender, short-sleeved hoodie and mid-thigh length khaki shorts. It was Kiata’s mother, Hinata Hyuga. “Oh, you must be Ryder. Kiata’s still getting ready. Won’t you come in and have breakfast with us?” She asked.  
“Thank you miss. I will come in, but I won’t have any breakfast. My stomach hurts when I eat this early and get moving around,” Ryder replied, stepping inside and removing his shoes.  
“Well how about you take some with you then? I made enough for Bei Ten and Yusuke to have with us, but they both left in such a hurry without eating. I’m surprised you didn’t pass them on your way here.”  
“Yusuke?”  
“Oh, I’m sorry. Yusuke is Kiata’s older brother. He’s an anbu, so he tends to leave very early, so I thought I would have time to at least sneak breakfast into his bag, but he gave me the slip again.”  
Ryder laughed. “I was a lot like that when I lived with Uncle Ay.”  
“Oh, right. You’re the old Raikage’s nephew. Well it’s an honor to have you here,” Hinata did a slight head bow.  
“It’s not that much of an honor mom, it’s just Ryder,” Kiata said strutting into the room. She sat at the table and began to eat off of a plate that was set up. “Ryder, come eat. Don’t be modest, we’re teammates.”  
“It’s not that. I get sick when I eat this early. I usually eat after my morning training.”  
“I’ll pack a breakfast to go,” Hinata said going to the kitchen.  
“Well at least sit down, because I’m not leaving anytime soon,” Kiata commanded. Ryder took a seat next to her and looked around their dining room. “It’s not much, but I like it. Much better than that academy dining hall. It’s too gaudy,” Kiata said with a mouth full of rice. Ryder was seeing the more comfortable side of Kiata. She did not seem to be as prissy as she let on around others.  
“It’s lovely,” Ryder replied. “So, Kiata there’s something I-”  
“You told Drake about your secret last night, right?” Kiata interrupted.  
“How did you know?”  
“Drake decided to turn on his HyperLink last night and woke me up. He wouldn’t shut up about ‘Hey, Kiata! Guess what? Ryder likes me more! He told me his secret, but I won’t tell you and you’ll never find out and you’ll never be as good friends as we are!’ and it was very annoying.”  
“Yeah, sorry. After I left from here I ran into him and we walked a bit and I told him, but I came over this early because I was also going to tell you too. I’m-”  
“A jinchuuriki right?”  
“What? Did he tell you that, too?”  
“Ryder, we’ve fought together a few times now. The first couple times, I was confused as to why you had such a large and intimidating chakra around you. So, after a while I asked Shikamaru-sensei and he wouldn’t tell me. Then, I remembered our fight against Lord Naruto. He was surrounded by lots of red chakra. Everyone knows Naruto has the nine tailed fox in him, so I did some history research and found out that jinchuuriki, in the heat of battle, can be enveloped in their tailed beast’s chakra. So, I put two and two together and -boom- you’re a jinchuuriki.”  
“You really are one of the smartest ninja of our generation,” Ryder said amazed.  
“I’m glad you recognize it.”  
“How long have you known?”  
“A little less than a week. I was going to wait for you to say it, but when I found out you told Drake before me, I figured I had played dumb long enough. And to answer your question and quell your fears, no, we aren’t going to shun you for it. Drake seems really excited for it and I have already considered many ways we can use that strength to our advantage in the heat of battle. Besides,” she continued pushing her empty plate away and pushing up her glasses, “we’re all friends now,” she said with a smile. “We care for each other.”  
“Thank you Kiata. That makes me so happy to hear,” Ryder said smiling back.  
“But enough about that,” Kiata said putting on her backpack and shoes and opening the front door, “we’ll be late if we dawdle. Let’s go.”  
“When did you-” Ryder said rushing out of his chair towards the door.  
“Don’t forget your breakfast, Hinata called after him, stepping into the doorway of the dining room.  
“Right! Thank you!” Ryder shouted running out the door after Kiata.  
\-------------------------------------  
“Alright, you guys,” Naruto began, “your mission is simple. You guys are going to be going on a reconnaissance mission to the Land of Frost. We have reports from villagers from the hidden cloud that state that they have observed ships sending and receiving unmarked cargo. All shipping companies have their wares branded, but lots of blank boxes have been recorded and are suspicious. We want you guys to stake out the Mune Company shipping dock in the Land of Frost and record any suspicious details. Do NOT engage or attempt to interfere. If you are met with an attack of any kind, subdue the enemies and retreat immediately. You are strictly on reconnaissance. Understood?”  
“Understood,” the four said in unison.  
“Good. There isn’t exactly a condition for clearing this mission. If you find anything out, great. If not, also great. Just don’t raise any alarms in the Land of Frost and don’t get caught and killed,” Naruto continued.  
“Understood,” Shikamaru replied bowing. “Let’s set out you three.” The four began to leave out the massive gate and started down the path towards the Land of Clouds. About an hour of running through the treetops passed when Shikamaru spoke. “How are you guys holding up?”  
“Fine,” Drake said confidently.  
“Kiata, from here you’ll keep an eye ahead of us and around using your Byakugan. We’ll be far enough away from the village soon that bandits will be lurking so everyone stay on your toes,” Shikamaru commanded. After about thirty more minutes of running they came to a stop at a crossroads.  
“We’re headed to the land of lightning correct?” Drake said. “So then this way?” he said pointing down the right.  
“Right,” Ryder said. “This is the path I came when I first came to the Hidden Leaf Village. It’s going to be nostalgic heading back that way.”  
“Sensei, do you think we could stop at the Hidden Cloud Village at some point to meet Ryder’s family?” Kiata asked.  
“Probably not, we’re on a tight schedule to get where we’re going and to come back. If we find any free time it could be possible, but don’t place your bets on it,” Shikamaru replied.  
The four then started their trek again towards the land of lightning. There was never much to discuss outside of Drake cracking the occasional joke. “Hey Ryder, Pan tsukutta koto aru?” Drake asked.  
“Hm? Yeah, I have. I used to all the time with Uncle Ay. Why?” he replied?  
“Oh!? I hope you washed them first!” Drake said and immediately burst out in laughter.  
“Oh brother,” Kiata groaned. [The joke is that Pan tsukutta koto aru means “Have you ever baked bread before?” but Pantsu kutta koto aru means “Have you ever eaten underpants before?” Drake asked the question vaguely so that if Ryder said yes, the joke would then be on Ryder for saying he had eaten underpants before]  
Shikamaru began to laugh as well. “That’s a pretty good one Drake! You sure you’re not actually Kiba’s son?”  
“Sensei, now is hardly the time,” Kiata said sternly.  
“Right, right. In fact, it’s about time we went over some things. Drake, do you know what reconnaissance is?” Shikamaru asked.  
“Uh, well, it’s uh…” Drake stammered.  
“Reconnaissance is observation of an area or individual in order to learn information,” Kiata jumped in.  
“Correct, but just because you know a lot doesn’t make you smart. A know-it-all tends to be the last to get caught, but is unlikely to be able to rescue their comrades,” Shikamaru scolded.  
“Ha! You got told off!” Drake said blowing a raspberry and putting his thumbs on his temples with open palms in the air as if they were antlers.  
“Drake,” Shikamaru said, “you’re not off the hook. Now that you know the meaning, spell ‘Reconnaissance’.”  
“What?” Drake said, shocked.  
“In your graduation exam, you didn’t know what reconnaissance meant or how it was spelled, so this is a learning opportunity.”  
“Uh…’R’, ‘E’, ‘C’...uh…,” Drake stammered. Suddenly, the answer came to him. “R-E-C-O-N-N-A-I-S-S-A-N-C-E. Reconnaissance,” Drake said proudly.  
“Correct. Gold star for you Ryder,” Shikamaru said smiling to Ryder.  
“What?” Ryder asked.  
“Just because I can’t tap into your HyperLink doesn’t mean I don’t know when you use it.”  
“Geez,” Drake said annoyed.  
“Well now that we have collectively taught Drake about reconnaissance,” Kiata and Ryder began to snicker, but Drake was not amused, “it’s important to know what we are staking out. As you heard from Naruto, we’ll be scoping out the Mune Company Shipyard. Things you’ll be looking out for are unmarked boxes, important people and their faces, ships, receiving and sending times, and on the off chance we can see from a safe distance any actual products. Any form of transactions such as cash or barter need to be watched for too,”  
“I know Lord Naruto said to not engage, but that said, why don’t we just tear the place up?” Drake asked. “I mean, the four of us definitely could and if they are suspected to be an enemy of the Alliance, we should just nip it in the bud.”  
“That’s a good point, Drake, and we would have sent for their destruction if we had proof of their treachery. We, unfortunately, do not, so we just need to prove it. Then, we’ll send in a strike team to shut down the operation and-”  
“Why can’t we just do it?” Drake argued. “We’re already here, and what if there’s an emergency? What if we have to step in?”  
“No, Drake! Our mission is reconnaissance. Period. Nothing more and nothing else. Naruto clearly has a reason for not wanting us to infiltrate or engage, so we’re going to abide by our orders. Understood?”  
“Whatever.”  
“Sensei, Drake has a point, much as I hate to admit. What happens if we’re caught or something major happens? Like a public execution or the trading of nuclear warfare?” Kiata said.  
“Oh, well simple. If that happens, then our mission is over and we immediately go home and report so that Naruto can issue out a strike team immediately,”  
“Even if we’re caught?”  
“In that case, we make a quick rescue, then hightail it home.”  
“God you’re frustrating!” Drake shouted angrily. “I didn’t want to get situational, but what if there’s a very strong ninja who catches us and we can’t escape and they’re trying to kill us, and we’ve been captured?”  
Shikamaru sighed heavily, “Okay, I get it. You want to know all your options, and I get it. You love your village so if there’s something threatening it, you want to be able to protect it. I get it. A handful of us risked our lives to bring Sasuke back when we were younger, but we were assigned a dangerous mission. If we were told to scout, that’s all we would have done. Naruto, however…” Shikamaru trailed off.  
“Ok sensei,” Ryder said, “we’ll abide by our orders.”  
“Ryder,” Drake said, calming down.  
\-----------------------------------  
An hour or so had passed of running when they came across a small town. It was rather bustling with many merchants beaming their smiles at passersby and children running around playing games together. A level of liveliness they had only seen in the Hidden Leaf.  
“So this is Yaki Town?” Kiata asked. “The way they made it sound in the report made me think it would be an almost war riddled place, but they seem to be doing well.”  
“According to the information, the person who runs the Mune shipping company has a large influence on this town too. If the shipyard is doing well, Yaki Town does well,” Shikamaru added.  
“Well, why don’t we stock up on some snacky snacks and get on over to the shipyard?” Drake said.  
“Would you be quiet?” Kiata said covering his mouth. “Do you not remember that this is a ‘secret’ mission?”  
“Sensei, why are we here?” Ryder asked. “The shipyard is in the complete opposite direction.”  
“I’m going to gather some intel for us. You guys will too. Just do your best to not let us get caught,” Shikamaru said. “This is going to be good intel gathering practice, so don’t forget you can use your skills to gather info as well.”  
The three split off from Shikamaru and headed towards the nearest BBQ diner. They grabbed a table and ordered food as they sat and discussed a plan. “I think we should start at the bathhouse,” Kiata suggested. “Businessmen tend to unwind and casually discuss business matters there, so I think that would be a solid start, but sensei only gave us two hours to gather intel so we’ll need three different ways to gather info.”  
“More importantly,” Drake interrupted, “Ryder, why did you side with sensei back there?”  
“Drake, now’s not the-”  
“He’s hurt,” Ryder replied.  
“Huh?” the two questioned.  
“When he brought up the Sasuke retrieval mission, I realized. We’re the first squad he’s ever been put in command of since he became a jonin so long ago. He’s led teams before, but this is his first time being someone’s actual sensei. I wouldn’t say he’s scared of something bad happening to us, but he knows exactly how dangerous this mission can be. If something bad were to happen and he was put in a position where he had to choose between us and the mission, he knows he would choose us, and that could cause problems. He almost lost five men during the Sasuke retrieval mission, he may be having some ill thoughts about the negatives of this mission. You know he’s an over-thinker,” Ryder explained.  
“I never thought of it like that,” Drake replied.  
“Which is why he’s so adamant about us sticking to information gathering and getting out. This mission could go south very quickly,” Ryder went on.  
“Alright, I’ll apologize later,” Drake said solemnly.  
“If you two are quite finished, bathhouse. What else?”  
“Ramen bar and market. Now that that’s all wrapped up-” Drake was cut off.  
“Why won’t you take this seriously?” Kiata said angrily.  
“Come on,” Drake groaned. “Ramen bars are where business men get drunk early and they would spill the beans to their worst enemy. The market is full of fishermen so of course they know a thing or two about the shipyard. Can you get off my back now?”  
“That’s...actually very intelligently put Drake,” Kiata said lowering her voice.  
“Yeah, I know. Now, I want to eat before I have to go soak in hot springs. Oh the horror,” he fakely groaned as he drank his tea.  
“Not so fast you!” Kiata said. “I suggested the hot springs, so I’ll be going there. Besides, we don’t need you getting caught peeping and raising any alarms.”  
“You wouldn’t have to worry about that,” Drake said quietly. “Whatever, I’ll go to the marketplace. Ryder, I’ll let you have the ramen bar. I figured you could use the easier of the two,” he said smiling at Ryder.  
“Oh, thank you,” Ryder said. The waitress brought three bowls of udon to the table and the three quickly ate and began to head out to gather information. Kiata went in the opposite direction of the boys since the bathhouse was closer to the edge of town. “Good luck,” Ryder called after her.  
“You too,” she said back.  
“Alright, now that our pick-me is gone. Let’s go have some fun,” Drake beamed.  
“No, Drake. We really have to gather intel now.”  
“We’re not gonna do anything useless. We’re gonna go to the shipyard.”  
“Definitely not! What if something happens?”  
“Nothings gonna happen. We’re just gonna get a head start on the stake out.”  
“What are you guys staking out?” a little boy asked, tapping Drake on the shoulder.  
Drake shouted and jumped behind Ryder. “Who are you?!” he asked, shaking.  
The child smiled, “I’m Potoshi, but everyone just calls me Popo!” Popo was a small child with medium length red hair and a cute face. Popo smiled brightly despite wearing a ragged shirt and loose fitting shorts that were held up by having a large clump of the fabric bunched up and tied off with a string.  
“Hey, Popo. What all did you hear?”  
“I heard you say something about a stake out. I like watching people. What are you looking for?”  
“We’re looking for the Mune Company Shipyard,” Ryder answered.  
Drake elbowed him in the side. “Ryder! What part of ‘secret’ mission did you not understand?” Drake whispered. “And sensei had the audacity to lecture me on reconnaissance. The nerve.”  
“He’s like 7, I’m sure it’s fine.”  
“The Mune shipyard? Yeah, I know where that is! Why are you looking for it?”  
“We’re doing a survey of the land,” Drake lied. “We work for a contracting company. We were sent to get the lay of the land, especially the shipyard, so we can start contracting new buildings and an extra dock.”  
Popo stared at them in disbelief. “Are you sure you’re contractors? You’re just kids.”  
“That’s quite coming from a kid,” Ryder replied.  
“We’re...ninja...contractors? We joined a company when we graduated…?” Drake mustered.  
Popo stared at them a little while longer. “Hmmm...okay!” he finally said. “Follow me, I’ll show you how to get there,” he turned and began heading towards the main gate.  
“You sure we can trust him?” Ryder asked Drake.  
“He’s a kid, it’ll be fine.”  
“I don’t know how I feel about this,” Ryder groaned worriedly.  
\---------------------------------  
The two followed Popo for around thirty minutes until they came to the mouth of a cave. There was a small building near the opening that read “Clergy and Info”. “That cave leads down into the dock where everything is, but you’ll want to go in here and talk to my uncle first. He’s the person who will tell you where to go and tell you what you need to know.”  
“Thanks kiddo,” Drake laughed fakely. “You can run along now. Serious business ahead.”  
“Okay! Be careful! They get rough down there,” Popo began walking into the forest and eventually disappeared.  
The two unpuffed their chest and began to relax. “I can’t believe that worked,” Ryder said relieved.  
“Yeah, no kidding. That kid was dumber than he looked. Cute, though. Hope he’ll be alright.”  
“I’m sure he’ll be fine. This shipyard is at the bottom of a cave? I guess we really did learn something huge. Are we just gonna go down and scope it out then?”  
“I think that’d be be-,” the door to the building exploded open. The two shouted at the tops of their lungs.  
“You two!” the man in the doorway boomed.  
“We’ve been caught Ry!” Drake cried. “It’s all over!”  
“You two are late!” he continued.  
“Huh?” Ryder said at the pinnacle of confusion.  
“You’re my contractors right? I expected you two an hour ago!” he stepped out of the building and down the stairs. He was a very tall man with a massive, bushy beard and a bald head. He was very beefy in the body and had a chiseled face. His foreboding presence scared Drake and Ryder even after the confusion had started to be cleared up.  
“You’re Popo’s uncle, right?” Ryder said, slowly unhanding Drake.  
“I see. My nephew gave you the run around huh?”  
“Not at all,” Drake interjected. “We were lost and he helped us get here. Sweet boy.”  
“I see. Well follow me. I’ll show you guys down and I’ll update you guys on what it is we’re wanting done,” the man gestured.  
Drake and Ryder followed after him. They were in too deep at this point. Any screw up would have their enemies coming down on them in droves in an unfamiliar setting. They made sure to be as careful as possible.  
\---------------------------------  
Kiata sat impatiently on a bench near the Yaki Town entrance waiting for Ryder and the others. She grew more and more irritated as she waited for her team. Everyone was now an hour late. Finally, Shikamaru showed up and began walking towards her. “Hey, Kiata. Where are the others?”  
“We split up to gather information. I went to the bathhouse, and they went to a ramen bar and the market. You’re all late.”  
“Sorry about that. I got caught up with some of the informants and ended up getting more info than I expected. If you’ve been waiting around, why don’t you use your byakugan to find the other two?”  
“Good call,” Kiata activated her byakugan and began searching around for the other two. “I’m not finding them. Even for a mile outside of the village. They're not around anymore.”  
“Well this isn’t good,” Shikamaru sighed.  
“You don’t think they got kidnapped do you?”  
“No, anyone dumb enough to try to capture those two wouldn’t be met with an easy task. We’d know if someone targeted those two.”  
“You don’t think they went to find the shipyard do you?” Kiata asked.  
“It’s possible. Those two are gonna be searching for a while though.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“If they’re looking for a dock, they’re going to be looking for a long time. The shipyard isn’t a shipyard. It’s a submarine bay.”  
“What?”  
“That’s why we never saw anything like a dock on the way here. Evidently, they’ve been completing their shipments by travelling beneath the water. My informants don’t know where it is, all they know is that it is a submarine yard. So definitely near water, but underground.”  
“Interesting. That coincides with the data I received, then.”  
“Of course. What did you learn?”  
“At the bathhouse, the wives of a few employees were gossipping. Apparently, there is a cave on the outskirts of town where their husbands have to go through to reach the shipyard. They don’t know where it is, though.” Kiata said disappointed.  
“Don’t feel down. A cave near a body of water. We just have to find something like that,” Shikamaru tried to cheer Kiata up.  
“I’m not worried about our loss of direction. I’m worried about Ryder and Drake. I have no idea what happened to them and I can’t find them with my byakugan. They must have traveled outside my range which is rather far.”  
“Something tells me if we leave town, we might find them,” Shikamaru said quietly.  
“What do you mean?”  
“Walk in front of me. We’re leaving towards the woods now. Don’t freak out on me now.”  
Kiata stood and did as she was told. They began walking through the town gate and down the road. Suddenly, Kiata lost control of herself. She was walking, but it was as if she was being puppeteered. Her mouth began moving, but no sound came out. “Don’t worry. I have you with my shadow possession. I’m going to communicate with you this way, so try to realize what I’m having you say. We’re being watched and by now I’m sure followed. We can’t talk too loud anymore so I’ll talk to you this way for now. When we get to the forest, I’ll let you go and I want you to use your byakugan to identify our pursuers. I’ll ensnare them and we can see if we can get any info out of them. Got it?” Kiata realized she could move her head and nodded. They disappeared into the thick of the forest and they split apart.  
\-------------------------------  
Ryder and Drake finally reached the bottom of the cave with the man. The boys were in shock at what they saw. Massive cargo containers piled up to the ceiling. The cave roof had been carved and cleared of any stalactites. Bright lights were set up around the work area and lights were strung up on the cavern walls too. Small buildings were erected in an area together. A few men were seen leaving them while wiping sleep from their eyes. They were barracks. Finally, there was a massive pool of water which took up over three fourths of the caves already massive size. It was the size of a small neighborhood. “Ryder, this is insane!” Drake said, surprised.  
“Impressive, huh? The madame doesn’t pull any punches. She’s been coming to you guys for contracting for years now. You make us proud every time,” the man said. “I’m surprised you two got lost coming here. Some of your company’s only work is through us. Did they not tell you how to get here?”  
“They just told us to meet someone at Yaki Town. They said the exact location couldn’t be given out,” Ryder said.  
“Wait, did he say the madame?” Drake asked quietly.  
“Well, you guys know what you have to do. The blueprints were sent to you guys, so I’ll let you figure out where best to work on everything. I have to head back up. Just follow the blue lights to get back to the surface when you’re done. Can’t wait for the new reactor processor!” he said leaving the two.  
“Reactor processor?” Drake said to Ryder. “These guys are planning something huge. Not to mention, he said this was the shipyard but we’re at the bottom of a cave and there are no ships. What gives?”  
“I don’t know, but we’ve gathered a scary amount of intel. Let’s wait out the next hour and get out of here while we can,” Ryder ordered.  
“Yeah, no kidding. We might as well snoop around a bit while we’re waiting though,” Drake suggested. “After all, we’re being paid to scope the place out by Lord Naruto and by the shipyard,” Drake said winking.  
“You’re right. Let’s see if we can’t find anything like a log book or something.”  
The two separated and began searching the shipyard. Drake investigated a small building on a platform looking over the shipyard. Luckily, the guard patrolling the porch saw them being escorted down, so he did not bother Drake when he approached. Ryder decided to poke around the body of water. He walked the perimeter observing the men moving boxes and barrels from the small wooden docks up towards the buildings. He picked up a stone the size of his palm and tossed it out to the middle of the lake. It hit the water and began to sink. Ryder began walking away when he heard a very silent clang. He looked around and the spot where the stone hit the water caught his eye. He began to wade into the water. The soft mud mushed under his feet for about fifteen steps. Suddenly, he felt a cold hard flooring beneath his feet. Steel. As he went farther out, the water level did not increase. There was a large metal floor about a foot beneath the surface. He kept moving around on it until his foot hit what felt like a small step a few inches high. He began making his way around the perimeter of it before someone shouted, “Looking for something?” It was Drake.  
“Oh, Drake. What are you doing here? I thought you were looking elsewhere?” Ryder asked in a slurred and muffled tone. Everything was suddenly hazy and spinny. Was everything this weird a moment ago?  
“I found more than enough. You need to get out of there and we need to leave asap. Did you not hear me calling you through your HyperLink?”  
“No, I didn’t.”  
“Well we have to go. You’ve been walking in circles in that water for a while and started looking suspicious. You were telling me something through the link. Your thoughts were cloudy, but you said something about a metal door. I don’t know what happened, but it connected us to Kiata. They’re on their way to meet us nearby, but we have to go now. I found something. Come on,” he reached his hand out to help Ryder out of the water. Ryder took his hand and stepped up onto the dock. “Ew, what’s that?” Drake said pointing to the black things on Ryder’s legs.  
“Oh, I think they’re leeches,” Ryder said. He quickly pulled them off and once the last one came off he snapped back to his normal self. “Drake!” he said, surprised. I think I found something. There’s a metal floor in the water.”  
“Ok sure whatever. Seriously, we need to go right now!” he pulled Ryder by the arm and casually began making their way to the entrance.  
Right as they reached the mouth of the cavern, someone shouted, “Where did those contractors go?”  
“Shit,” Drake said. “They move fast. Ryder? Buddy? I need you to focus and focus fast. Follow the blue lights he said? Come on. We’re leaving.”  
“What’s going on?”  
“Don't worry! Just run!” The two quickly made their way through the caves as an alarm system began to sound. They began to pick up their pace until they began to see a light coming up. “Yes! The exit!” Drake said. Drake put his arm in front of Ryder and motioned for him to power walk instead of run. He did not want to raise suspicion with the man in the outside building. They walked past the door when the window suddenly opened.  
“Hey you two!” the man shouted. “All done already?”  
“Uh, yea! We already had a good spot planned and everything so we just needed measurements. We gotta go very fast now. Bye!” the two leapt into the woods and began running back towards the village.  
\-----------------------------  
After running for ten minutes or so, Drake stopped. Ryder came to a halt and stood next to Drake who was hunched over, breathing heavily. “Want to tell me what’s going on now?” Ryder asked.  
“In time,” Drake said, finally catching his breath. “We’re gonna meet up with sensei and Kiata first.” Shortly after, Shikamaru and Kiata came forward and stopped in front of the two. “Oh boy,” Drake thought.  
“Oh boy is right!” Kiata said, approaching angrily. She slapped Drake so hard that he fell off the tree branch he was resting on. “Honestly! You two thought it would be a good idea to not only go hunt for the enemy base alone, but also to ENTER it!?”  
“Kiata, we didn’t have a choice. Stuff happened and we were roped in. If we didn’t head in, our cover would have been blown big time,” Ryder apologized.  
“Why did you leave the village at all?” Shikamaru asked.  
“A little kid was listening in on us,” Drake explained. “If we hadn’t started up a lie, he would’ve found out we were trying to spy and probably would have ratted us out. Me managed to shake him off and find the shipyard. Then, right as we were gonna leave, we were encountered by another person and one thing led to another and suddenly we were given free reign to look around for stuff.”  
“And what did you find?” Kiata asked.  
“Something that doesn’t belong to him, that’s what," a voice said from seemingly nowhere. Everyone quickly got into a circular formation. The air around them began to get very cold and they could see their breath.  
“Who’s there?” Shikamaru shouted.  
A frosty mist appeared in the center of their formation. Then a woman began to take form in the mist. She was a bit taller than Shikamaru and had white hair sculpted up into a beehive hairdo. She had a long white dress that was form fitted around her slender body with large shoulder pads. She had long, sharp nails painted white and you could faintly see her light blue heels poking out from the bottom of her dress. “I’m there,” she said in a seductive whisper, leaning next to Shikamaru’s ear. The four split apart from their formation, battle ready. “This handsome young man has something of mine, and I intend to reclaim it.”


	5. Cold Shoulder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tall woman appears. Team 14 doesn't stand a chance. After scraping by by the skin of their teeth, the group recuperates and gets everyone up to speed on their findings. In the middle of the night, a masked ninja attacks nearly decimating the entire team. Was this all more than the group could handle?

“You there, with the poor fashion,” the woman said to Drake, “I would like back what’s mine immediately.”  
“Poor fashion!?” Drake said, ticked off.  
“I don’t know who you are, but if my subordinate wronged you we’ll make sure its made right. Drake, I don’t know what you did, but you need to make it right now,” Shikamaru told him.  
“I can’t do that sensei,” Drake exclaimed. “What I have is more than enough proof that these people are plotting against more than just the alliance.”  
“Is that so? Well in that case, we can’t just let this slide,” Shikamaru said, pulling a kunai from his pouch.  
The woman snickered. “The four of you wish to take me on? I must laugh. The way things are now, you don’t stand a chance against me, and you definitely don’t stand a chance with your tactician pinned down,” she said as she waved her hand towards Kiata. A wave of pale, white ice rushed towards Kiata from beneath the woman. Kiata quickly jumped. She threw two shuriken towards the woman, but she deflected them with her two fingernails. “Child's play,” she scoffed.  
“Oh?” Kiata said. “Then let me grow up a bit for you.” Kiata waved her hands around a bit and the kunai began to move around in the air and wrapped around two branches behind the woman. They were attached to strings that connected to Kiata’s hands. When the shuriken had wrapped around the trees and stuck into the bark, Kiata used the strings as makeshift grappling hooks. She pulled herself towards the woman and landed a kick to her head.  
Ryder gasped in amazement. “Woah! Kiata you got her! What skill!”  
“Not quite,” Kiata said following through and pulling on the strings hard enough to let herself stick to the tree branch upside down as if she was walking on the bottom side of it. The woman’s body turned completely to ice and crumbled. “A substitution, huh?”  
“You’re good,” the woman said standing on the tree branch above Kiata. “You leaf ninja really have it going on. Too bad I’ll be making it go off.” The branch began to freeze over. The ice touched Kiata’s soles, but she jumped just in time before it reached her feet.  
“What?” The soles of her shoes tore as if they were never connected to her shoes to begin with. It was an almost clean cut.  
“I take back what I said,” the woman said, now beneath her original spot right where Kiata was falling to, “you’re not as fast as I thought you were.” The woman caught Kiata by the throat and held her suspended in the air. “You know, upon second glance, I see that you’re a daughter of the Hyuga. What a troublesome bunch. I think I’ll deal with you now and save myself from any future troubles.” A thick white mist began pouring from the sleeve of the hand that held Kiata. Ice began to creep up her hand towards Kiata’s throat.  
“Don’t forget about us!” Ryder shouted as he leapt through the air. “Rasengan!” he shouted as he held the small ball of chakra out towards the woman.  
“Fool,” she knocked Ryder’s hand away and followed through by grabbing him in the same way as Kiata. She looked into his eyes and her smile quickly turned to a face of surprise then back to a grin. “There’s something about you. This chakra. I think I’ll leave you alive for some experimenting. The boss will love you,” she said with heavy evil intent.  
“Gotcha,” Ryder said under his breath. Suddenly, a black rat scurried out from Ryder’s robes and jumped down onto the ground. It’s tail extended from its base all the way up into Ryder’s robes, out through his pant leg, and all the way back to Shikamaru. As soon as the rat touched the woman’s shadow, it bled into her shadow and she suddenly stopped moving.  
“Shadow Beast Possession. Success,” Shikamaru managed to use Ryder to get close enough to trap the woman.  
“So that’s how it is, hm?” she muttered. “If you thought this weak jutsu would be enough to ensnare me, you must have encountered me instead of whoever you were actually after,” she said. Then, small chunks of ice began forming in the air around her. A beam of light made Ryder squint.  
Suddenly, Ryder cried out, “Sensei, do something! She’s trying to reflect light with her ice to break your shadow possession!” It was too late. The light beam quickly diverted from Ryder’s eyes to the shadow line. Upon contact with the light, the line broke and a large gash appeared in Shikamaru’s hand. He winced in pain. The woman, now having control of herself again, tightened her grip around the two’s necks again.  
“Now, where were we?” she hissed.  
“Don’t you hurt them!” Drake shouted. The woman looked up to see Drake on a branch far above her. He was holding a medallion in the air in his hand. It was black with gold trimmings and a large red jewel in the center. “If you so much as hold them the wrong way, I’ll smash this thing! You can’t do much with it broken, but we still can!”  
The woman’s composure quickly changed to one of worry and fear. “You’d best be bluffing boy! I’ll bring hell upon you all if you break that!”  
“I’d like to see you try,” Drake scoffed. Suddenly, a faint twinkle appeared from the tree tops. A very thin wire shot down, wrapped around the medallion and continued towards the woman. She smiled, then dropped Ryder and Kiata to the forest floor and snatched the wire out of the air. She formed a large chunk of ice on the end of it and tugged it. All of a sudden, The woman, the ice chunk, and the medallion were snatched into the treetops. “What?” Drake said, surprised. As the woman sailed past Drake, she shot an evil glance at him and using two of her fingernails, slashed Drake’s right eye. It left a large chunk of ice in the shape of an upside-down ‘Y’ on his eye. It was hot, burning even. Ryder doubled over in pain screaming. With his remaining eye, he looked up after the woman and saw the silhouette of a small, young ninja on the treetops. Their hair was pulled up into a round bun on top of their head and had two small strands hanging on either side of their head. “You!” The two stood tall and left the area. Drake, clutching his eye, rolled off the branch and crashed into the ground. He continued screaming bloody murder. “My eye!” he howled.  
“Drake!” Ryder ran to his side. Kiata followed suit after gathering herself and Shikamaru did as well.  
“Drake, move your hand,” Shikamaru commanded.  
“It burns,” Drake cried.  
“I know! Move your hand!” he shouted. Drake moved his hand from his eye. The ice maintained its original shape from the attack. The skin around it has turned red and was beginning to swell around the ice. Faint white smoke was coming off of the ice. “Dry ice. So that’s her ability, huh?” Shikamaru said. He squeezed his hand to allow some more blood to excrete. “This’ll be gross, but bear with me kid.” Shikamaru let his blood drip onto Drake’s face to warm the ice. Once the ice warmed up a bit and was safe to touch, he smeared the blood around the area and pressed his hand to it to further warm the area. “If we don’t act fast, he’ll get frostbite on his eye and he’ll never see out of it again. Kiata, go gather some dry leaves. We’ll need a fire to warm the cloth we’re going to use for bandages.”  
“Right,” Kiata quickly left the area.  
“Ryder, do you have anything we can use for bandages?”  
“We do now,” Ryder said, holding several large, tattered, orange strips out to Shikamaru. He was now completely topless.  
“Ryder,” Shikamaru said. Shikamaru took the strips and set them aside.  
“Here, let me,” Ryder said, removing Shikamaru’s hand from Drake’s eye. “Drake, I’ve got you,” Ryder said as he brought Drake’s head to his chest. He placed Drake’s eye on his horse mark. As Drake’s head rested on his chest, a faint sizzle sound was heard. Ryder’s crest began to heat up as it had before when Drake hugged him. The ice around Drake’s eye slowly began to melt. Drake winced in pain as the ice melted and subtly tore the skin around his eye. “Bear with it, Drake. It’s almost over.”  
“Sensei, I gathered some lea-W-WHAT!?” Kiata dropped everything upon seeing Drake and Ryder. “W-What kind of thing is happening right now?” She shouted as she turned red in the face.  
“Huh?” Ryder said, turning towards her, revealing his bright red, faintly white glowing mark. Drake now having enough ice melted to be able to slightly see from his right eye, yet covered in his own and Shikamaru’s blood looked over at Kiata. He had an uncomfortably creepy, yet oddly comforted smile on his face.  
“Oh,” Kiata said quietly.  
“Kiata, if you have time to fantasize, start a fire so we can warm up these bandages for Drake,” Shikamaru said, tying together a couple pieces to make it long enough to wrap around Drake’s head.  
“Fantasizing?!,” she shouted. Kiata began to light a fire as Ryder set Drake’s head in position again.  
\-------------------------------  
The woman and the small ninja continued soaring through the trees in the direction of the shipyard. The small ninja spoke. “Lady Muneyaki, is it okay that we let them go?”  
“I’m going to say no because we can’t just let them go now knowing what they know, but protecting this medallion is top priority. Your timing was impeccable as always,” Muneyaki said.  
The kid smiled. “Oh, Lady Muneyaki! You know I do nothing but my best for you!”  
“That’s what I like to hear.” The two landed in front of the shipyard. The large man inside the building came outside.  
“Lady Muneyaki! Oh, I apologize for everything! Those boys gave me the slip and I was foolish to believe they were the contractors you hired. I will lash myself a thousand times to make up for it!” He said.  
“Spare yourself the lashings this time Buto,” Muneyaki commanded. “I retrieved the medallion and it was not damaged. Once I oversee our new shipment tomorrow, I will then head out to finish those intruders once and for all. I must make sure this medallion makes it to the boss in perfect condition or else he’ll have my head even after I’ve died.”  
“Oh, Lady Muneyaki! Someone like you could never die!” the small child said.  
“An adorable one you are, but alas, if I were to fail to complete a mission from the boss, I wouldn’t stand a chance against his wrath, but it’s all thanks to you that I’ve been saved. My precious little Popo!” Muneyaki said kneeling down and pulling down Popo’s mask revealing that her assistant was, in fact, Potoshi.  
“Lady Muneyaki, let me go after them instead. One as beautiful as you shouldn’t have to do the dirty work,” Popo pleaded.  
“But what if something happened to you? Oh, I wouldn’t be able to bear the thought. Fine then, we’ll go together. I want to see to it that that boy with the ominous chakra be captured.”  
\----------------------------------  
Little time had passed. Drake’s head was wrapped in warm, dry cloth and he was sleeping soundly in a tent. Ryder and Shikamaru sat by the small fire preparing a meal for everyone. Kiata walked back from the tent. She was changing Drake’s bandages. “He’ll be fine. There’s going to be a nasty scar on his eye from now on, but it will only be cosmetic,” she updated the two.  
“That’s good to hear. Good job, Kiata,” Shikamaru praised her.  
“Woah Kiata, your feet. What happened?” Ryder pointed out that the sides and bottom of her feet were badly torn up.  
“Huh? Oh!” she sat down and attended to them. “I guess in the heat of battle, I didn’t realize that the ice had ripped off some of the skin on my feet along with my shoe.”  
“Here, put these on,” Ryder handed her a pair of orange footgels.  
“What are these?” she asked with a strange look on her face.  
“Those are footgels, Kiata,” Shikamaru explained. “In the olden days, monks were not allowed to wear shoes, but the introduction of caltrops, traps, and even just running long distances made it unbearable without shoes. So the monks created thick gelatinous molds that you wear that cover just the bottoms of your feet for safety. They absorb so much shock that its almost like wearing thick metal soles on your feet. They even help chakra flow, making things like walking up structures and on water even easier. Not a crutch perse, in fact its even harder to figure out how to use them with chakra flow, isn’t that right?” Shikamaru asked Ryder.  
“One hundred percent! You sure get around sensei!,” Ryder praised him.  
“So that means, you HAVEN’T been walking around barefoot all this time?” Kiata said grossed out. “I don’t know if that makes the thought of you not wearing shoes better or worse.”  
“It’s a religious thing, Kiata, so be respectful,” Shikamaru scolded.  
“So do you two think you could fill me in on some stuff?” Ryder asked. “There’s a large gap in my memory. I remember in the shipyard, I saw a small pond. I tossed in a rock and heard a metal clang. Next thing I knew Drake was calling for me saying that we needed to get out asap.”  
“You really have no idea do you?” Kiata asked sincerely.  
“No,” Ryder shook his head.  
“Let me take you back,” Kiata said.  
\--------------------------------  
“Alright. Ready?” Shikamaru mouthed through Kiata. She nodded her head. Shikamaru released the shadow possession and they each hid behind a tree to their immediate right and left. The two men who were pursuing them ran to where they disappeared from.  
“Where’d they go?” one said.  
“They’re just ahead. I saw them leap forward,” the other replied. The moment they jumped forward, Kiata jumped from her hiding place behind them.  
“Gentle fist!” she shouted as she struck the two men in the neck, stopping their movements, but not knocking them out.  
“What the-?!” they shouted as they fell back to the ground.  
“I should be the one who’s surprised. I’m a thirteen year old girl and you two went down that easily? Please,” she scoffed. Shikamaru stepped from behind the tree.  
“Cultivate that strength and you could probably beat those buffoons we call teammates on your own with one hand tied behind your back,” Shikamaru told her. “Shadow pinning justu,” Shikamaru said. Large, black, sharp needles arose from the ground and pierced through the men’s clothing pinning them to a nearby tree. “Alright you two, since you made us over prepare for an ambush, you’re gonna repay us by answering some questions. You’ll notice you each have five pins keeping you down. I’ll ask questions. The first person to answer the question gets a pin removed. The first to five gets to leave. The remaining one of you, doesn’t.”  
“Yea? And what if we don’t?” the first man asked snarkily.  
Kiata activated her Byakugan. She placed her hand over the left shoulder of the man when he suddenly cried out in pain. “Refusing isn’t an option,” she said.  
“Damn you!” the man cried out.  
“Question one,” Shikamaru started. “Where is the Mune Company Shipyard?”  
“Don’t tell them shit,” the second man shouted. Kiata placed her hand on his left lateral. He shrieked in pain.  
“Don’t do what?” Kiata asked.  
“Just west of here!” the first man shouted. “There’s a small shack and a large cave opening, but you’ll never find your way to the shipyard without a guide.”  
“Fair enough,” he said, removing a shadow from the first man's pant leg. “Question two. What are they buying and selling in this shipyard?”  
“Yeah right. If we told you that the missus would surely kill us-”  
“Weapons, drugs, and parts,” the second man said quickly.  
“You idiot!” the first man shouted.  
“What kind of parts?” Kiata demanded.  
“To build something. I really don’t know what, but she’s planning something big,” he continued.  
“What’s gotten into you?” the first man cursed.  
“I’m not gonna die here man,” he cried. “I have a wife and kids. After I get freed, I’m gonna gather them up and flee from here.”  
“So that’s how it is?” the first man said under his breath. “Hey sir! Ask the next question! I’m ready to ditch this loser!”  
“Now things are interesting,” Shikamaru said removing a pin from the second man’s shirt. “New rule. No shouting out answers. You’ll wave your hand when you want to answer a question. Got it? Question three. Who is this missus?”  
The first man violently shook his hand. “Lady Muneyaki. She runs everything. Mune Shipyard, Yaki Town. All of it. Hence her name, Muneyaki.”  
“Interesting. I never would have put that together. I won’t remove a pin though because you didn’t wait to be called on,” Shikamaru said slyly.  
“Why you-GAHHH!” the man shrieked as Kiata used her chakra to sever the chakra point in the man’s right forearm.  
“Question four. We know its a submarine yard as opposed to a traditional shipyard. How do shipments get in and out unnoticed?” The second man shook his hand. “Lackey number 2, your go.”  
“The shipyard is in an underground cave, but there’s an underground cave system beneath that. It branches out to all of her connections’ home lands so that no one can ever follow their shipments.”  
“See what happens when we play by the rules?” Shikamaru said, unpinning the second pin from the man. “Question five. How do you enter this cave system?” The first man shook his hand weakly. “Lack of enthusiasm, but I guess you were first.”  
“There’s a large metal door at the bottom of the pond in the cave. Get past that door and you’re in the underwater cave system, but be careful. The water in the system is set up so not to allow intruders even near the doors. The water is filled with Genleeches. As soon as they bite into you, they fill your blood stream with a toxin that puts you into a genjutsu-like state.”  
“Duly noted. Thanks for the heads up by the way,” Shikamaru said, removing two pins from the first man. Question 6-” Shikamaru was interrupted.  
“Sensei wait!” Kiata exclaimed. “This buzzing noise. What is that? Something about a metal door?”  
Suddenly, Drake’s voice popped into her head. “Ryder what are you doing down there? Snap out of it!”  
“Drake?!” Kiata said.  
“Kiata!? Oh man we’re in for it now. Ryder get out of there, come on!”  
“Drake! What’s going on? Where are you two?”  
“Is that Ryder?” Shikamaru asked.  
“Drake,” she responded. “Drake what the hell is going on?”  
“I don’t know! I saw Ryder walking in circles in this pond and he’s acting weird. Oh, we also found the shipyard and we’re currently searching around in it,”  
“YOU WHAT?!” she shouted.  
“Hey, don’t yell! It’s a long story I’ll tell you later, but we’re about to get out of here now! I found something major that we have to keep from these people at all costs. I’m taking this and the note that was with it and we’re getting out of here. Where can we rendezvous?”  
“We know where the cave is that leads down into the shipyard, so head back towards the village and we’ll meet up halfway,” Kiata ordered.  
“Understood,” Drake replied.  
“And get Ryder out of that water! There are leeches in there putting him in a genjutsu.  
Hurry!”  
“Aye aye,” Drake said shutting off his HyperLink.  
“Honestly, those idiots. They found the cave already that leads to the shipyard and they   
managed to find their way to the shipyard and have been poking their noses around all this time.”  
“That’s pretty impressive for those two, but so much for reconnaissance I suppose, Shikamaru sighed. “A wonderful first mission for me.”  
“Hey” the first man shouted angrily, “what other questions do you have? I’m ready to go home.”  
“Oh, didn’t you know? You two were never going to actually go home,” Shikamaru said. “Kiata.”  
“Right.” She placed each of her hands on their foreheads and they both made a short groan as she knocked them both out.  
“Shadow hole,” Shikamaru muttered, clasping his hands together in the snake formation. A pitch black void appeared in place of the two men’s shadows. They slowly were absorbed into the holes. After about half a minute, they were completely submerged, and the circles disappeared.  
“Sensei, where did they go?” Kiata asked.  
Shikamaru patted her back and walked past her. “It’s best you not worry about that at this time. Shall we?” he asked, motioning in a direction that led towards the shipyard entrance.  
\--------------------------------  
“So it’s like that, huh?” Ryder questioned.  
“More or less,” Shikamaru groaned. By now, it had gotten darker out. The sun had not completely set, but the moon was visible. It would be about thirty minutes before it was completely dark out. Shikamaru lied back and put his arms up and behind his head to relax.  
“Sensei, your hand,” Kiata said, concerned.  
“I’m fine,” he said, pulling his hand out, showing them the spot he had been injured. The skin around the area looked melted and weird, almost as if he stitched the wound up using only his own skin. Layers of skin weaved in and out of each other.  
“What the hell?” Kiata said, surprised. “What did you do?”  
“It’s a temporary fix. It’s my shadow mending jutsu. It lets me morph the shadow of an object so precisely, that the object itself is molded the same way. I can stitch together a rock and fabric and it would be seamless, as if the two objects were always one. It’s not good for medical jutsu, though. Once we get back, I’ll need it fixed properly.” he explained.  
“That’s beyond creepy,” Kiata thought.  
“Who are you telling?” Ryder thought in response.  
“You guys are so loud,” Drake said stepping out of his tent.  
“Drake , no. You need to rest,” Ryder said, preparing to run to him.  
“I can rest out here with you guys. I need to eat too. Besides, there’s something that’s been bothering me about this entire mission.”  
“Have a seat,” Shikamaru gestured towards a small log.  
“Alright, so now I can finally add my two cents in to all this info. Here’s what happened while I was down in that cave.”  
\--------------------------------  
Ryder walked off to investigate near the water and Drake headed towards the villa-esque building that had three guards patrolling the patio. He walked up the stairs and gave the guards a confident head nod as he walked past them towards the door. One guard stopped him. “Hey you,” he said sternly”  
“Yes?” Drake said back with confidence.  
“You came in just now. What’s the weather like outside? I’m off in about half an hour and I wanted to take my kid to the park before the sun set.”  
“Oh yea, it’s pretty sunny out. I was almost upset that I would be coming down here today, but then I remembered I won’t be long.” Drake said.  
“Yeah, I feel ya. Well I’ll let you get back to your job. I know the missus would hate for you guys to get distracted.”  
“Right, then,” Drake said opening the door and stepping inside. The entire building was one room with large windows looking out to the dock. Inside was a very long table with different blueprints, notes, and tracking logs. A chalkboard with different scribbles of times and numbers was half erased. Drake walked around the room confidently, but internally he was very confused. What was he supposed to look for here? There was a podium as tall as him in the corner. He walked behind it and saw a small book with more legible writing. Dates and times of shipments and future deliveries were recorded. He picked the book up when suddenly, every single page fell out of the book. Nothing was bound together. He scrambled to try to pick up the pages when he hit his head on the corner of the podium. He stumbled and fell back into the corner of the room. His butt was caught by his tool pouch which absorbed the shock of his fall. It pressed into the tile in the corner of the floor and the tile depressed down. Suddenly,the corner or the room alone rotated. It was a trap floor. As it spun, Drake entered a new, dark room. He stood to his feet and did not move. He made a few hand signs: ram, hare, ox, tiger. “Fire style. Sight Lamp.” Suddenly, his field of vision was illuminated. A jutsu made for those who work in the dark but keep to the shadows, Sight Lamp allowed him to see the darkness as if there was a light on in the room, and it was a large room. He began to search around. It was a very clean and empty room save for an end table, a tall dresser, a bed, a chair...a bed? Drake did a double take and glanced at the bed again. He quickly searched for a light switch of some kind. He flipped it as soon as he found it and was surprised at what he found. It was, at its core, a bedroom. “What the...does someone live down here? Well, I guess a lot of people live down here,” he said to himself. He found his way to the table next to the bedside. There was a note written out.

“Boss,  
I’ve procured the medallion. It took a lot of snooping, but you know I’d do anything for you. The HAAS’ plans will come to fruition. I’ll be sending it via channel HF2HM-0905, so be ready to receive. Those fools you decided to pair up, annoying as they may be, are quite the pair. I’m sure they’ll retrieve the Gedo Eggs. Who would have thought we would be able to bring back that thing after it was destroyed so long ago? Anyways, do not let those fools fail. I went through hell and high water to get this medallion from the Mizukage and my poor Popo was severely injured in the process. She’s fine now, but she’s had an odd limp ever since we got home. I refuse to retire my own daughter, so let’s make this count. Maybe when all is said and done we can see a speedy recovery for her? You know I’ll do what I must for you to ensure things go smoothly on my end. Remember to write back when you receive the medallion. I wish to see their rebirth with my own eyes.  
HAAS - Muneyaki”

“No,” Drake thought. “What is this? Gedo? Medallion? And Popo? He’s...She’s...one of them? Then that means...we’ve gotta get out of here now!” Drake turned to run back towards the corner when his leg got caught on the nightstand. The entire table, table top contents and all, came crashing to the floor. The drawer popped open and a large object fell out. It was a medal with gold trimmings and a large red, round jewel in the middle. “This must be the medallion. So, they’re gonna use this to awaken something?” Drake heard a door close. He shoved the medallion into his pocket and ran to the corner. He flipped the lights off and pressed his heel. The corner rotated and brought Drake back to the large room. There was a man looking around. One of the guards.  
“Everything alright here? What were you doing back there?” he asked Drake.  
“Everything’s fine. I was ordered to get measurements of the missus’ room for a new installation. The light was off so I stumbled a bit. Nothing a little picking up couldn’t fix. I’ve got what I need so I’ll be getting my colleague and we’ll be going,” Drake said inching his way to the door and leaving in a brisk walk.  
“Hmm,” the guard pondered.  
Drake walked over to the balcony to search for Ryder when suddenly he began to hear something in his head. “Trap...water...metal door,” the voice said. It was Ryder. He had switched on his HyperLink and was saying something to Drake.  
“Ryder is that you? What do you mean water?” Drake looked towards the large pond and saw Ryder wading around aimlessly. “You idiot! What are you doing?” Drake said loudly in his head.  
“Water...metal door…” Ryder said again.  
“Ryder what are you doing down there? Snap out of it!” Drake thought loudly.  
“Drake?” a girls voice rang in Drake’s head.   
“Kiata!? Oh man we’re in for it now. Ryder get out of there, come on!”  
“Drake! What’s going on? Where are you two?” There was a second of silence before Kiata continued as if she was speaking to someone. “Drake,” she said. “Drake what the hell is going on?”  
“I don’t know! I saw Ryder walking in circles in this pond and he’s acting weird. Oh, we also found the shipyard and we’re currently searching around in it,”  
“YOU WHAT?!” she shouted.  
“Hey, don’t yell! It’s a long story I’ll tell you later, but we’re about to get out of here now! I found something major that we have to keep from these people at all costs. I’m taking this and the note that was with it and we’re getting out of here. Where can we rendezvous?”  
“We know where the cave is that leads down into the shipyard, so head back towards the village and we’ll meet up halfway,” Kiata ordered.  
“Understood,” Drake replied.  
“And get Ryder out of that water! There are leeches in there putting him in a genjutsu.  
Hurry!”  
“Aye aye,” Drake said shutting off his HyperLink. He ran down the stairs dodging the gazes of the workers who looked oddly at him as he ran past. When he approached the dock, he walked quickly to where Ryder was wading around. He noticed that Ryder was taking a few steps, then looking around and repeating this action every few baby steps. “Looking for something?”  
\---------------------------------  
“And that’s the long and short of it. I can’t believe I forgot the note, but I memorized what it said perfectly I swear,” Drake said.  
“It’s fine. As long as you have it committed to memory, I’ll have you write it down for us to deliver when we get home,” Shikamaru ordered.  
“Sounds good,” Drake said. “That’s not all though.”  
“You really came through,” Kiata said. “I’m impressed.”  
“We’re shinobi now,” Drake said. “It’s no longer time for childish things. We were humiliated by that woman and I refuse to let something like that ever happen again. It’s time we get serious about this.” Drake shocked everyone with his words. The once strong, yet child-like Drake was gone. He had a new resolve. “So I was thinking, Popo led Ryder and me straight to the shipyard. Someone doesn’t make Muneyaki’s right hand by being that dense. Popo knew what we were here for from the jump almost as if she was intercepting us. We were played. That got me thinking after reading that note: This mission came from an anonymous tip to the Leaf that suspicious goods were being traded around. We thought we were looking for an actual shipyard due to the thought that it was possible that a passerby saw these exchanges. We now know how heavily guarded and, well, literally underground this place is. They don't bring cargo above land. So, if no one except for those involved even know that there is something going on down there let alone what is going on…” Drake explained.  
“Who tipped off Lord Naruto?” Ryder asked, surprised at this revelation.  
Suddenly a shadow came down upon Ryder with a silver, glimmering object. A blade. “Ryder! Watch out!” Drake dove over and shoved Ryder out of the way. The blade plunged deep into Drake’s shoulder. He fell over without a sound.  
“Drake!” Kiata screamed. In a flash, Kiata jumped towards the intruder. She began a flurry of attacks on them, but they dodged every strike. “They’re fast,” Kiata thought. “Ryder, go up and corner him from above. Sensei is already moving to get Drake taken care of,” she thought.  
Ryder ran up the trees and positioned himself behind the assailant. “Wind style! Tempest Bullets!” he jumped down and began shooting off gusts of wind. Any wind that missed was reflected back by Kiata’s attacks. They constructed a wind bullet ricochet field, but it wasn’t enough. The ninja dodged every attack flawlessly. “What do we do?” Ryder thought.  
“Push him into the tree there,” Drake managed.  
“Don’t worry about this,” Ryder told Drake.  
“Sensei’s order,” Drake replied.  
The two glanced towards Drake and a black circle next to him disappeared. They nodded at each other. They changed their assault to pressure the ninja towards a lone tree. The onslaught went on and on. However, it worked. The ninja was suddenly standing with the tree to their back. “You think I’m cornered?” they said cockily.  
“No, we know you’re captured,” Shikamaru said, suddenly emerging from a large void on the tree holding a kunai to the assailant’s throat.  
“As if,” they said. The ninja weaved a few hand signs. “Water style. Pin missile jutsu,” the ninja turned into an amorphous blob and sharp, needle-like quills began shooting out of their body. Shikamaru was struck several times before retreating to his void. The ninja pulled out a kunai attached to a long string. While Kiata was shielding her eyes, the ninja threw the kunai towards her. Controlling it with the string, it wrapped around Kiata’s neck a few times. The ninja pulled it tight and pulled her towards them. They struck Kiata in the chin with their knee sending her upwards, then they followed through with a powerful punch to the stomach which sent her flying backwards.  
“Kiata!” Ryder shouted. He began to grow furious. His entire team was dispatched in seconds by this one person. Ryder began gathering large amounts of chakra. Large patches of fur began to sprout from Ryder’s face and arms. Two long, white ear shaped protrusions shot out from either side of his head pointing behind him. His fingers, from his fingertips to his knuckles turned black and very hard. He vanished immediately.  
“What?” the ninja said surprised.  
Suddenly, Ryder was beneath them. A powerful uppercut sent the ninja soaring upwards. Ryder followed through with several lightning fast punches coming from any which direction. Finally, with a foot as hard as a boulder, a final axe kick to the head sent the ninja plummeting towards the ground. The ninja’s head bounced off the ground, bringing them a couple inches back into the air. Ryder began to form a Rasengan, but it wasn’t a normal Rasengan. It was a bright pink as opposed to its normal blue, chakra-like color. He rushed down and hit the ninja with the Rasengan square in the stomach. The ninja began rotating violently. Faster than a person should spin or, realistically, could. They began spinning so fast, they began rocketing around the forest floor like a spinning top gone out of control. The ninja slammed into many trees, destroying them in their wake. As the ninja began to slow down, Ryder began to return to his normal appearance.  
“Ryder, what was that?” Shikamaru said, emerging from the ground while covering his face which was bleeding.  
“I don’t know. I just got really mad.”  
“Well, whatever it was,” he said approaching the motionless body, “you won with it. I don’t think they’re dead, but for sure knocked out,” he said nudging the head with his foot.  
Ryder approached the ninja. He removed the cloth covering their mouth. “Popo!?” Ryder said surprised. He backed away in shock. “He was this strong? No...we were weak,”  
“Ryder that’s not it,” Shikamaru tried to console him.  
“Then what is it? We were all taken out so easily. I had to go berserk to just get a hit on him. A little kid! He beat all of us. Oh, Drake!” Ryder shouted.  
“He’s fine,” Shikamaru assured Ryder. Drake rose up out of a void in the ground. The wound he had received from the sword was haphazardly stitched up.  
“Shadow mending,” Ryder said.  
Kiata, rising up from being knocked down began to walk towards the group. Shikamaru was already binding Popo as Ryder addressed Drake’s wounds and eye. “Is it over?” Kiata said, on the verge of tears.  
“Kiata,” Drake said worriedly.  
“Far from it, unfortunately,” Shikamaru said. “Why are you crying?”  
“This is way more than we signed up for,” she said, now trying to hold back sobs. “We’ve been through so much today, and we’ve almost lost our lives twice in a few hours. When is it over? We weren’t even supposed to be fighting. We learned what we needed to, can’t we go back home now?”  
“Kiata what is this all of a sudden?” Ryder questioned her. “This is exactly what we signed up for.”  
“I’m with Kiata,” Drake added.  
“What?” Ryder said shocked.  
“Amateurs,” Shikamaru mumbled. “They really stuck me with whiny amateurs. A Hyuga who whines about fighting...an Uchiha who gives up because he gets an injury...you guys are pathetic.”  
“You said we would flee if we got into a fight, so why are you talking so big?” Kiata argued.  
“You have to be prepared for anything. There was no way we could escape during either bout, in that scenario, you must be prepared to protect your allies,” Shikamaru said.  
“You guys are really acting like children,” Ryder said.  
“It’s not our fault we don’t have a tailed beast inside us. Maybe if we did we wouldn’t have gotten beaten so badly,” Kiata shouted.  
“No, in fact it’s none of your fault,” Shikamaru stepped in. “Yes, you should be prepared for anything, even if it means fighting an enemy far beyond your scope of strength, however, we were baited into a C Rank stake out mission when we were not only brought into what should have been an A Rank assassination, but something that ended up becoming an S Rank manhunt. This mission is beyond the scope of you guys no matter how prepared you could have been. This is something Naruto or Sasuke would have had to handle, or at the very least a team of jounin,” Shikamaru explained.  
“Why am I hearing this from even you?” Ryder added.  
“Huh?” Shikamaru recoiled.  
“You’re one of the New Sannin and you’re talking about how this is too much. You should be the one spearheading this.”  
Shikamaru didn’t budge. He stood there quietly. “You’re right,” he finally uttered. “Sorry, I’ve just been worried about you three.”  
“Sensei…” Ryder paused.  
“You three aren’t ready to be ninja,” Shikamaru said.  
The three let out a surprised shout collectively. “What do you mean we’re not ready?” Drake said surprised.  
“You’re strong kids, there's no doubt about it, but you’re not ready to be ninja,” Shikamaru said disappointed.  
“What?” Kiata said, shocked.  
“Crying about ending up doing more than you’re assigned. Being reckless. Not taking your allies into consideration,” he said looking from Kiata, to Drake, to Ryder. “You’re not just physically weak, but mentally and emotionally.”  
“Should I have just let Ryder get hit back there?” Drake shouted.  
“There are ways to save someone besides throwing yourself into the fray. Especially while injured,” Shikamaru explained. “You have so much to learn before you’re all ready to become real ninja. Things that are very important. This isn’t the world I grew up in, but it’s just as dangerous in other ways. You guys are soft. You have no resolve. I only pray the rest of your class didn’t come out this way. You were better than each other, but evidently the best of you all isn’t as good as the worst of them.”  
“You got beaten by him too,” Drake muttered. “In fact, Ryder’s the only one of us who was good enough to beat him.”  
“It’s no surprise that if a jinchuuriki releases their power they can outperform even a jounin. I was caught underestimating the opponent and that's my fault. It takes a real shinobi to admit their faults. Just because Ryder could hold his own against me, doesn’t mean he’s ready to be a ninja either. It’s settled, now that this one is apprehended, we’ll sleep now and in the morning we’ll take him with us back to the leaf as a prisoner. Once we get back, I’m going to have this team disbanded and you’ll return to the academy. It’s what’s best for you all,” Shikamaru went on.  
“You can’t do that!” Drake shouted.  
“I will do what I must. There are no objections,” Shikamaru returned. “I’m not going to allow our youth to be thrown into something they’re not truly prepared for. It would be irresponsible,” Shikamaru said, bringing his voice down.  
“Sensei…” Ryder said.  
“I won’t fold. Get some sleep. We leave at dawn.”  
\--------------------------------  
It was roughly 4 in the morning when Ryder awoke. He did his best to not make much noise. Cutting the mission short when there was now so much at stake was out of the question. He gathered his tools and headed off towards the shipyard. His plan was simple: infiltrate the shipyard, retrieve the medallion, defeat Muneyaki. It sounded easy on paper, but he knew it was unrealistic. He didn’t care. There were a lot of unanswered questions he had about the world and if this turned out to be bigger than a simple illegal goods trade, this could point him in the right direction of getting answers. He set out quickly and quietly. He ran for about five minutes before he noticed something behind him.  
“Who’s there?” Ryder said, throwing a kunai at the noise. It was quickly deflected.  
“Calm down froggy, don’t jump to conclusions,” it was Drake. Kiata was with him as well.  
“Drake! What are you doing? You can’t be moving around like that!”  
“I don’t have a choice,” Drake replied.  
“You guys can’t stop me,” Ryder said.  
“What did Drake just say?” Kiata said snarkily. “We’re not stopping you, we’re here to help.”  
“What?”  
“Not only can you not do this alone, but we want to show sensei that he’s wrong too,” Drake explained. “No resolve? Please! I’ve got plenty of resolve.”  
“And what would that be Ryder?” Kiata asked sarcastically.  
“Uh, well. You know, I wanna be really strong,” he nervously laughed it off.  
“Don’t worry Drake,” Ryder said. “You want to get strong for Umagi, I understand.”  
“Ryder…”  
“I want to take the title of head from my mother. Not for any malicious reason, but on top of everything she’s been through she doesn’t need the added stress of spearheading an entire clan. If I can't be strong, I can’t do that for her,” Kiata explained.  
“There’s a lot riding on the success of this mission. Information, progress, more than just a pocket full of money. We have to succeed,” Ryder said with determination. The three continued forward towards the shipyard with serious looks in their eyes.  
\------------------------------------  
About two hours of running later and they reached the mouth of the cave of the shipyard. The sun had yet to rise, which meant Shikamaru would still be asleep. The end was in sight. “All we have to do is enter, defeat Muneyaki, and make it back with the medallion. It sounds simple...in fact it doesn’t even sound easy, but we don’t have a choice but to succeed,” Ryder said.  
“Do you really think we can?” Kiata asked, unsure. “I mean, our win loss record isn’t exactly something that gives me confidence.”  
“We have to try,” Drake said, clutching his shoulder.  
“I still don’t want you here at all,” Ryder said to Drake, “but I don’t stand a chance without you.”  
“An injury like this can’t slow me down. If it did, we’d be a sorry excuse for a team.”  
“Alright. The sun will rise in about two hours. We’ve gotta do this and get back to sensei before he wakes up. Then we can prove our strength and resolve,” Kiata said.  
“We know the way down, so Ryder and I will take the lead. It’s still early so the man shouldn’t be at the front building. We have to be quick, though. I’m sure there are people still moving around and working down there. They know our faces, and they know we’re wanted. It’s full stealth this time,” Drake informed. “If Muneyaki is down there, I know where her room is. I’m sure if she’s there, she’s got that medallion on tight lock. The building is under tight security too, so even getting near it will be difficult. If we pull this off...When...we pull this off, sensei will have to acknowledge that we’re ready to be ninja.”  
“Then let’s stop talking about it and let’s go,” Ryder commanded.  
\-------------------------------------------  
Shikamaru rustled around a bit before fully coming to. “You guys are still asleep?” he asked the three bedrolls lazily. “I don’t wanna hear about me being lazy ever again. Alright, up and at ‘em.”  
“They’re gone,” Popo said from the other side of the camp.  
“Come again?”  
“They’re gone. My guess is that they went to finish the mission, but I wouldn’t know, I woke up right as they left.”  
“What the hell!? I’m surprised you didn’t wake me up to stop them from going after your boss.”  
“The few of you the better. If I let them go, Lady Muneyaki will tear them to shreds. Then once you follow suit, you’ll meet the same fate.”  
“As if,” Shikamaru scoffed. “Those three are going to wrap this up nicely,” he said with a smile.  
Popo made a confused noise. “After that spiel about them being weak? I was able to kick their asses, so even you know they don’t stand a chance.”  
“That was to light a fire under them,” Shikamaru explained. “I was hoping they’d have this wrapped up by the time I woke up, but I guess I have to go provide backup. Also, don’t get any cute ideas about you beating me yesterday. I’ve been trying to test those three this entire time. My lack of assistance has been to help mold them into strong ninja. They’ll need to be for what’s to come.”  
“Yeah right. They’re weak and they’re leader is no better. The only one worth a damn is that Ryder and he’s gonna get handed over to Lady Muneyaki’s boss. You’ll all regret coming here,” Popo said with confidence.  
“Is that so?”  
“Definitely.”  
“Popo,” Shikamaru said turning towards him with a devilish glare, “have you ever wondered what hell is like?”  
\------------------------------------  
“There it is,” Ryder said. “Muneyaki is probably in there.”  
“Byakugan,” Kiata began searching around the small building. “Yes, she’s there, but it seems she is sitting there reading something. It’s a ledger or something.”  
“That’s where they keep their logs and stuff,” Drake said. “I got a quick look at it when I was looking around.”  
“This book’s log is so weird. HF2HS-0010. HC2HF-1405. Wait a minute. Drake! What did that note from yesterday say?”  
“Channel HF2HM-0905.”  
“Those letters and numbers. They mean something. Are they people, places, times...wait. Places and times. Didn’t you guys say they were unloading from a shipment yesterday?”  
“Yeah,” Ryder answered.  
“It was about 1330 when you guys split off from me. So 1405 is a time. They received a shipment yesterday at 1405. HC2HF. HF could be Hidden Frost. Two...I wonder if HC is another village...wait. This is so simple. We’re idiots for not realizing sooner! HF2HS means Hidden Frost TO Hidden Stone or Sand. HC2HF means Hidden Cloud TO Hidden Frost. The numbers are times. That’s when the shipment is set to arrive. HF2HM-0905 isn’t the name of a path. They’re sending something from here to another place and it should arrive at 0905!”  
“That’s in like 2 hours!”  
“So if you’re going to act you should have done it faster,” Muneyaki said, looming menacingly over the three. “My, you three are quite the handful.”  
\--------------------------------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tale of Ryder will be on hiatus this weekend due to an increase in workload from pleasure to employment. Thank you all for understanding!


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